David McAtee Shooting: Federal Plea, Settlement, and Fallout

The David McAtee shooting happened just after midnight on June 1, 2020, when Louisville Metro Police officers and Kentucky National Guard soldiers arrived at 26th Street and Broadway to enforce a curfew and ended up in a brief exchange of gunfire that killed the 53-year-old barbecue chef in the doorway of his own restaurant. No one was ever criminally charged for his death. The officer whose pepper-ball fire escalated the confrontation was later fired, indicted federally, and pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor civil rights offense involving McAtee’s niece. In January 2023, his family settled a wrongful death lawsuit against the city and the National Guard for $725,000.¹

Who David McAtee Was

McAtee had cooked barbecue for 30 years and had run YaYa’s BBQ at 26th and Broadway in Louisville’s Russell neighborhood for about two years. He lived where he worked. Before opening the stand, he had been head cook at a Volunteers of America shelter and halfway house. Neighbors and family described him as generous with free meals, including meals for local police officers. His nephew Marvin McAtee told reporters, “He fed everybody, even the people that killed him. For free.”² His mother, Odessa Riley, called him a “community pillar.”³

What Happened at 26th and Broadway

Louisville had been under a 9 p.m. curfew since May 30, 2020, imposed by Mayor Greg Fischer after nights of protest over the March killing of Breonna Taylor. Governor Andy Beshear had authorized the Kentucky National Guard to help enforce it.⁴

Shortly after midnight on June 1, LMPD officers and Guard soldiers pulled up in unmarked vans and armored vehicles at 26th and Broadway to disperse a crowd gathered near Dino’s Food Mart and McAtee’s stand. Officials later described the gathering as a “typical Sunday evening” crowd rather than a protest.⁴ Officers began firing pepper balls. LMPD officer Katie Crews fired pepper balls at McAtee’s niece, Machelle McAtee, who was standing on private property.⁵

Surveillance video showed McAtee leaning out of the front door of his restaurant and firing a 9mm handgun at least twice. Two LMPD officers and two Guard soldiers returned fire, discharging 19 rounds between them.⁶ A single bullet struck McAtee in the chest. He died at the scene.

Kentucky State Police later determined that the fatal round came from an M4 carbine fired by a National Guard soldier. Bullet fragments recovered from McAtee’s body carried green paint consistent with Guard ammunition but were too damaged to tie to a specific weapon or shooter.⁷

No Body Camera Footage and the Chief’s Firing

None of the LMPD officers on scene had activated their body cameras. The National Guard soldiers were not equipped with cameras at all.⁸ Metro Council President David James called the failure “absolutely astonishing.”⁹

Within hours, Mayor Fischer fired LMPD Chief Steve Conrad, calling the missing footage an “institutional failure.” Conrad had already planned to retire at the end of June, but Fischer removed him immediately and named Deputy Chief Robert Schroeder acting chief.¹⁰ Officers Katie Crews and Austin Allen were placed on administrative leave.¹¹

No State Charges for the Shooting

On May 25, 2021, Jefferson County Commonwealth’s Attorney Tom Wine announced that no criminal charges would be filed against any of the four people who fired at McAtee: LMPD officers Katie Crews and Austin Allen, and National Guard soldiers Andrew Kroszkewicz and Staff Sergeant Matthew Roark. Wine concluded all four were justified under Kentucky’s self-defense statutes because McAtee had fired first. He did not present the case to a grand jury.⁶

Forensic testing confirmed McAtee’s DNA on the handgun found near his body, and two spent shell casings outside his door matched that weapon. Wine also noted that McAtee had been aware of the curfew, having discussed it with an LMPD lieutenant the night before.⁶

Wine did find that Crews violated LMPD’s use-of-force policy by firing pepper balls at Machelle McAtee on private property. He referred her conduct to the department’s professional standards unit and the Louisville Metro Civilian Review and Accountability Board but declined to bring an assault charge, saying the “criminal definition of physical injury could not be proven.”⁸

Steve Romines, the family’s attorney, told reporters the outcome was expected: “We never anticipated that the commonwealth’s attorney’s office would hold any LMPD officers responsible. History has shown that doesn’t happen.”⁶

What the National Guard’s Own Review Said

The Kentucky National Guard finished its internal administrative investigation by August 30, 2020, under Brigadier General Steven T. King of the Indiana National Guard. It concluded that the soldiers were “prepared, well trained and acted lawfully.”¹²

The full report has never been made public. A version released to the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting in May 2021 was heavily redacted, with recommendations for future crowd control, timelines, and explanatory content blacked out. The Guard refused to identify the soldier who fired the fatal shot, citing “operational security and protection of the force requirements.” Some material was withheld at the request of the U.S. Department of Justice, which was then running its own investigation.¹² Kroszkewicz and Roark both declined to give statements to investigators, invoking the Fifth Amendment.¹³

The Federal Case Against Officer Katie Crews

Federal authorities did not pursue the fatal shot. They pursued Crews for what she had done to Machelle McAtee with pepper balls before McAtee ever came to the door. In March 2022, a federal grand jury indicted her on a felony civil rights charge carrying up to 10 years in prison.¹⁴

By then Crews had already been fired. Police Chief Erika Shields terminated her on February 7, 2022, citing five policy violations: using pepper balls against a crowd that was “not disorderly nor aggressive,” firing at someone on private property where the curfew did not apply, failing to give the crowd a chance to disperse, failing to activate her body camera, and failing to report that failure.¹⁵ A separate investigation found she also violated social media and conduct policies with a Facebook post about a protester she had targeted with pepper balls: “I hope the pepper balls that she got lit up with a little later on hurt… Come back and get ya some more ole girl, I’ll be on the line again tonight.”¹⁶

On October 11, 2022, Crews pleaded guilty in federal court to a single misdemeanor count of deprivation of rights, reduced from the felony. Under the plea, she surrendered her Kentucky law enforcement certification and agreed never to seek work in law enforcement again.⁵

On January 30, 2023, U.S. District Court Judge Benjamin Beaton sentenced her to two years of probation, 200 hours of community service, and a $5,000 fine.¹⁷ Beaton called the case “incredibly difficult” and cited Crews’ own text messages, including one about “lighting them up with pepper balls lol.” Romines said the family agreed with the sentence: “sending her to prison would only make it worse when it is the LMPD as a whole that inadequately trained her and sent her there that night that deserves the lion’s share of the blame.”¹⁸

The $725,000 Wrongful Death Settlement

In September 2020, Odessa Riley and Machelle McAtee filed a wrongful death suit in Jefferson Circuit Court against the City of Louisville, the Kentucky National Guard, and the individual officers and soldiers who fired.¹⁹ The parties reached a $725,000 settlement the week of January 23, 2023, confirmed publicly on January 30.¹

Romines explained the choice to settle: “The family wanted to put all litigation behind them, both for themselves and the city that David loved. Ms. Odessa is 89 years old and had no desire to litigate for another five years.”¹⁹ The Jefferson County Attorney’s Office said the parties “agreed that this resolution was in their best interests.”¹

Where Accountability Landed

No one was ever criminally charged for killing David McAtee. Kentucky’s prosecutor found the return fire justified under state self-defense law. The National Guard cleared its own soldiers and has not publicly identified the one who fired the fatal round. The only criminal conviction connected to that night was Katie Crews’ misdemeanor plea, and it concerned her pepper-ball fire at his niece, not the shots that killed him. The civil case ended in a $725,000 payment from the city and the Guard to his mother and niece. That is the full ledger of what the legal system produced for the death of the man his neighborhood knew as YaYa.

1
Courier-Journal. David McAtee Wrongful Death Lawsuit Settlement Louisville
2
WUNC. The Louisville Community Who Loved David McAtee Has Questions About His Death
3
NPR. Louisville Hosts Public Viewing for David McAtee as Details of His Shooting Emerge
4
WKYU FM. Louisville Mayor Announces Immediate End to City Wide Curfew
5
LPM. Ex-Officer Involved in Fatal David McAtee Raid Pleads Guilty in Federal Court
6
Courier-Journal. No State Charges in David McAtee Shooting
7
WAVE3. Death of David McAtee: Timeline of How Change Was Sparked in Louisville
8
WLKY. Report: Charges, David McAtee Shooting Policy Violation, LMPD Officer Katie Crews
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WAVE3. LMPD Says New Video Shows David McAtee Firing Gun Before He Was Killed by Law Enforcement
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PBS NewsHour. Louisville Man David McAtee Killed When Police, Soldiers Fired at Group
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ABC News. Louisville Police Chief Fired After Fatal Shooting of David McAtee
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LPM. KY National Guard Releases Heavily Redacted Review of Louisville Deployment
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WKYU FM. Police, National Guard Members Won’t Be Charged in David McAtee Killing
14
Courier-Journal. Katie Crews LMPD Federal Charges David McAtee Shooting
15
LEO Weekly. Termination Letter: Ex-LMPD Officer Katie Crews Fired for Social Media Post, Actions on Night David McAtee Killed
16
WDRB. Records Show What Former LMPD Officer Posted on Facebook That Partially Led to Her Firing
17
U.S. Department of Justice. Former Louisville, Kentucky, Police Officer Sentenced for Using Excessive Force
18
LPM. Ex-Louisville Officer Involved in Fatal David McAtee Raid Gets Probation
19
WDRB. David McAtee’s Family Settles Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against City, Law Enforcement for $725,000