The family of Cornelius Taylor, a 46-year-old man experiencing homelessness who was killed during a city-led encampment sweep in Atlanta earlier this year, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city. The suit, announced at a press conference on Friday, contends that Taylor died as a result of negligence and recklessness by city employees clearing tents with heavy machinery.

Cornelius Taylor

Atlanta

Taylor was fatally injured on the morning of January 16, 2025, when a bulldozer operated by a city worker rolled over his tent in the Old Fourth Ward neighborhood. Advocates say he had been asleep when the operation began. The clearance was part of a broader city effort to remove tent encampments ahead of events commemorating Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

“This lawsuit is not just about justice for Cornelius—it’s about changing how people without homes are treated,” said Darlene Chaney, Taylor’s sister, during the press conference. She described her brother as a gentle, thoughtful man who believed he could find stability despite the bureaucratic and personal challenges he faced.

The civil suit, filed in Fulton County Superior Court, accuses the city and specific, unnamed municipal employees of failing to follow basic safety procedures. According to attorneys representing Taylor’s family, those involved did not verify whether the tents were occupied before deploying equipment. An autopsy determined Taylor suffered catastrophic internal injuries, including a fractured pelvis and severe organ damage.

“The city conducted the sweep with reckless abandon,” said attorney Harold Grant, who is representing the family. “They prioritized optics over lives. You don’t plan a cleanup around a holiday and forget the humans still living in those tents.”

In the months since the incident, Atlanta has implemented new policies for clearing encampments. These updates, reportedly adopted in June 2025, were the result of a 90-day internal review and include revised coordination and safety protocols across departments. However, Chaney and her legal team argue that these measures fall short of meaningful reform.

Atlanta

“The city may have made things slightly safer, but slightly safer is not good enough,” Chaney said. “There are still bulldozers. There’s still no guarantee of housing. People are still being swept away.”

Mayor Andre Dickens, who in January called Taylor’s death a tragedy, has not commented on the pending litigation. Earlier this year, he stated that city officials were working to balance public health and safety with compassion for those living without shelter.

Andre Dickens

The lawsuit does not request a specific monetary amount but seeks damages for wrongful death along with broader relief that could prompt changes in how Atlanta—and potentially other U.S. cities—address homelessness. Among those changes, the family and their attorneys hope to see more consistent housing-first strategies and an end to what they describe as punitive camp clearings.

Atlanta

Beyond the legal filings, the case has drawn attention from local advocates and national observers. The Housing Justice League called the death “emblematic of a brutal system” that marginalizes people already in vulnerable circumstances. Others point to the broader context, citing a 2024 U.S. Supreme Court decision that permitted local governments to ban camping on public land, a ruling that has shifted how cities across the country approach street homelessness.

2024 U.S. Supreme Court

For Chaney, however, the story remains deeply personal. She recalled her brother’s love for books, his optimism even in hardship, and his attempts to reassemble his life after setbacks. She said delays in obtaining identification documents and stable housing had kept him unhoused longer than he wanted.

“He wasn’t invisible to us,” she said. “And he shouldn’t have been invisible to the city that failed him.”