The family of Christopher Walker, a father of 10-year-old twins who was struck and killed by a Fresno police Officer, has reached a $3.25 million settlement with the city after litigation uncovered evidence contradicting the city’s initial account of the crash, attorneys for the victim said in a statement Tuesday.

“This was a tragedy that never should have happened,” said plaintiffs’ attorney Adam Carlson of Walnut Creek-based Casper, Meadows, Schwartz & Cook. “The city’s investigation failed these children twice. First, by allowing unsafe conduct to take their father’s life, and again by failing to uncover the truth.”

The statement said that Walker was walking home on a “dimly lit” Fresno County road when he was hit by the officer, who was on duty but not responding to a call.

Early reports described the Jan. 5, 2023, crash as unavoidable, but evidence later showed the officer was speeding and distracted by his cell phone, according to the statement.

The Fresno Police Department handled the investigation internally, and key evidence — including body-camera footage and documentation of critical conversations — was not recorded, the plaintiff’s attorney noted. The officer’s work-issued phone, which attorneys said was likely a source of distraction evidence, was discarded despite two preservation letters from plaintiffs’ counsel.

Forensic experts also disputed a postmortem toxicology report that listed Walker’s blood alcohol content at 0.26, saying traumatic injury and the lack of a standard vitreous humor sample made the finding unreliable, the plaintiff’s attorneys said. Experts concluded any trace alcohol would not have caused the collision.

The settlement was approved by the city of Fresno and finalized through a court-reviewed minor’s compromise, the statement noted.

Fresno Police Chief Mindy Casto Gives Statement

The Fresno Police Chief Mindy Casto released a statement regarding the incident:

“Although the City of Fresno ultimately elected to settle the litigation brought as a result of Mr. Walker’s death, the facts are grossly misrepresented by the plaintiff’s attorneys in their media release.

“There was no evidence established that the officer was distracted by his cell phone at the time of the collision. He was not issued a department phone at the time, so it is patently false that it was destroyed after a preservation letter was issued. Further, the officer did have a personal phone, for which a preservation letter was not received by him, that was routinely upgraded many months after the collision – not destroyed.

“There was no evidence established that body camera video was mishandled. There was no evidence established that “key conversations” were undocumented.

“There is evidence that Mr. Walker was intoxicated and jaywalking, while on his own cell phone, when he stepped off the median, in the dark glare of a wet night, in front of the moving patrol car and was struck and killed.

“A number of factors are considered when making the decision to settle a case or take it to court when a tragic death is involved, but intentional wrongdoing by members of the Fresno Police Department did not happen in this case.”

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