YOUNGSTOWN – The city settled a federal lawsuit for $40,000 with the mother of a 14-year-old boy who was killed — and was referred to by Youngstown police as a “runaway” rather than a “missing child.”

LaJena Solomon of Parkwood Avenue in Youngstown filed the civil rights lawsuit Jan. 12, 2024, in the U.S. District Court’s Northern District of Ohio. Solomon’s lawsuit accused the city of wrongful death and racial bias, contending it treated the disappearance of her son, Landon Lockhart, who was black, differently than it does when white children go missing.

The lawsuit named the city as well as Lt. Robert Gentile and Detective Sgt. Hannah Short as defendants.

Magistrate Judge Carmen E. Henderson helped the two sides work out a settlement during a more than six-hour May 7 mediation session. The settlement has the city not admitting any liability, said Jason Small, a city senior assistant law director.

“We reached a settlement, and we’re satisfied with the results,” Small said.

Each side is responsible for its own attorney fees.

Mayor Jamael Tito Brown is sponsoring legislation for Wednesday’s city council meeting to have the legislative body authorize the board of control to settle the lawsuit for $40,000 with $20,000 paid by the city and $20,000 coming from its insurance company, Tokio Marine. The city’s $20,000 goes toward its deductible with the insurance company.

The lawsuit alleged the city and the two officers “failed to administer protective services in a nondiscriminatory manner, consistent with Youngstown Police Department’s custom or policy of failing to investigate cases involving missing persons and / or children of color.”

In a response, the city denied the claims, stating it “did not act in a discriminatory manner.”

Landon went missing from his mother’s home Nov. 21, 2021, and Solomon called the Youngstown Police Department to report him missing, saying it was unlike him to stay away from home so long without speaking to his family.

Youngstown police came to her home Nov. 22 to make out a report after Solomon called a second time. They filed the report Nov. 23, classifying Landon as a “runaway,” rather than a “missing child,” the suit stated. The difference between the two is that a “runaway” does not meet the criteria for an AMBER alert under state law, but a “missing child” does.

“Further, runaways are less likely to garner media attention than missing children and receive less urgent police responses,” the suit stated.

Landon was found shot to death Jan. 13, 2022, in a wooded area off of North Truesdale Avenue on the East Side.

The suit stated that despite Solomon and her family insisting that Landon had not run away and their concern he was in danger, the Youngstown Police Department “continued to treat him as a runaway and failed to investigate his case with urgency.”

The police could have tracked Landon’s location using his cellphone or Apple watch and did not alert the news media to “secure community engagement,” the suit stated.

The police department declined to involve the media until Jan. 4, 2022, when it issued a statement citing concern that Landon might be in danger, according to the lawsuit. His body was found nine days later.

Anjuan Whitfield and Anthony Wilkins Jr., who were 16 when they killed Landon, were sentenced Aug. 4, 2023, to 17 to 22 ½ years in prison after taking a plea to a reduced charge of involuntary manslaughter with a gun specification in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. Both were initially charged with aggravated murder with a firearms specification and having weapons while not allowed.

Elijah Carlisle, 17, pleaded “true” in county juvenile court on June 7, 2023, to involuntary manslaughter with a gun specification and was sentenced to four years in an Ohio Department of Youth Services lockup.