DETROIT (WWJ/AP) A Michigan appeals court has revived a lawsuit on behalf of a Southfield woman who had been declared dead, but opened her eyes and gasped for air when funeral home workers unzipped her body bag in a case that swept national headlines.
In a 3-0 opinion, the court ruled Thursday the judge should not have dismissed the lawsuit against Southfield paramedics before the “discovery” process of conducting interviews and collecting evidence.
In August of 2020; Timesha Beauchamp, 20, opened her eyes moments before morticians were about to begin the process of embalming her.
Her high profile attorney, Geoffrey Fieger, described to reporters how close she came: “Had she not opened her eyes, they would have begun draining her blood.”
He filed a $50 million lawsuit against Southfield EMS in federal court, arguing her civil rights were violated and that valuable time was wasted when they did not take her to the hospital right away.
Beauchamp’s mother went into her daughter’s room on the morning of August 23, 2020 to give her medicine, found her unresponsive and called 911; the Washington Post reported.
Four emergency responders arrived at Beauchamp’s home where they performed CPR and other life-saving techniques. She was pronounced dead on the scene.
According to Fieger; Beauchamp’s godmother, a registered nurse, thought she saw her goddaughter breathing and “felt…a pulse.”
Southfield Fire Chief, Johnny Menifee, said: “They (the medical team) checked her vital signs on three separate occasions. Each time Miss. Beauchamp didn't show any signs of life. At each intersection with medical science, our paramedics and the patient showed no signs of life."
When they could not resuscitate her, emergency responders called a doctor who declared her dead without coming to the home, the AP reported.
She was taken directly to the funeral home, where she would open her eyes and gasp for air about 15 minutes after she arrived, according to the Washington Post.
Four firefighters and paramedics involved in the case were placed on paid administrative leave while the City of Southfield and the Oakland County Medical Authority investigated the case.
In a statement released the day after she opened her eyes, the Southfield Fire Department said: “The Southfield Fire and Police Departments followed all appropriate city, county and state protocols and procedures in this case…”
Beauchamp’s family accused the paramedics of “gross negligence.”
The lawsuit had been quashed by multiple U.S. Court of Appeals judges and the U.S. Eastern District Court of Michigan Court, on the grounds that first responders are covered by “qualified immunity”— which allows government officials and first responders “to unflinchingly discharge their duties” without fear of getting sued for their actions unless they violate the constitution, according to the definition by the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The attorney for the City of Southfield and its first responders, Kaci Henderson, asked the appeals court in June: “Where do we have the facts that anything could have been done to change her condition?”
The State of Michigan initially suspended the licenses of the first responders involved, but has since reinstated them; Henderson said.
Timesha Beauchamp died at Children’s Hospital eight weeks later. Her attorneys argued her death was caused by “massive brain damage” because the paramedics failed to give her “much needed oxygen.”
She has lived with cerebral palsy and struggled to breathe since she was a baby, her family said.
The lawsuit will now be taken up in Oakland County court.
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