The estate of 19-year-old Elexis Dampier, who died in 2022 while being chased by Harvey police, filed a complaint in October regarding nonpayment of a settlement agreement.
The agreement, approved by the City Council in July 2025, mandates the city pay $900,000 in installments over eight years in exchange for being released from any claim of responsibility in Dampier’s death.
The initial payment of $75,000 was due Sept. 30, 2025. On Oct. 15, Dampier’s estate filed a motion for the court to enforce the settlement agreement, saying Harvey had failed to make the payment.
“Plaintiff has made good faith attempts to resolve the issue without Court intervention, but Defendant has failed or refused to comply,” the motion read.
That amount has now been paid up, a spokesperson for the city said. The payment was initially missed because the city lacked the money, the spokesperson said.
“This case stems from a profound loss, and that reality is not lost on us,” the city spokesperson said in a statement. “Our priority remains honoring our obligations and respecting the process.”
The state withholds a portion of Harvey’s revenue because of the city’s past failure to adequately fund its police and fire pension funds.
“The State Comptroller withholds roughly 35% of all incoming revenue, including restricted funds, limiting access to resources that would otherwise be available to meet obligations more quickly,” the statement said. “If the comptroller would stop withholding funds this situation would not exist.”
Jon Erickson, an attorney representing Dampier’s estate, confirmed the payment arrived months late. The check was dated Jan. 9 of this year, he said, and was delivered Feb. 5.
“The check arrived kind of out of the blue, three or four months past its due date, without any explanation,” Erickson said.
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Erickson said the delays from Harvey compounded the suffering of Dampier’s grieving family.
“This family is being harmed by Harvey, not once by having an officer on the force that stole their daughter from them, but then they drag them through this legal thicket because they can’t get their house in order,” Erickson said. “It’s obscene.”
The Harvey City Council voted to declare a state of financial distress last October, just a day after the court petition was filed. The application for Financially Distressed City status, which would allow the city to receive financial relief in the form of a partial state takeover of its finances, was rejected in February.
The next payment of $75,000 is due at the end of April, according to the settlement agreement. Following that, payments of $50,000 will be due twice yearly through 2033.
“We’re days away for installment number two, but we shall see,” Erickson said.
The city has also been ordered to pay an additional penalty of 6% per year due to their failure to follow the terms of the settlement, Erickson said.
“I asked for that as a result of their failure to comply with their agreement, and the judge granted it,” he said.
The chase that led to Dampier’s death started with a disturbance at a Harvey gas station, according to prior reporting. Dampier, a Hazel Crest resident, left the scene in a car with Justin Alston, also 19, of Markham, and one other person as police arrived.
The car was traveling at a high speed down Dixie Highway when it swerved to avoid another car passing through an intersection and hit a sign outside a business on the east side of Dixie Highway, Hazel Crest police said.
Dampier and Alston were killed in the crash. Dampier was pronounced dead at the scene, while Alston was pronounced dead at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn. The third passenger was hospitalized.
A wrongful death lawsuit brought by Alston’s estate against the city has not been settled, and is still progressing through the courts.
Nearby Dolton is also facing financial hardship brought on by a fatal police chase. In 2022, a jury handed down a $33.5 million judgment for a 2016 crash that killed one man and left another permanently injured, an amount Dolton is struggling to pay as it continues to accrue interest.
Erickson said the Dampier case was settled at the relatively low cost of $900,000 due to Harvey lacking proper insurance for such cases.
“A municipality has insurance to cover these exact kind of things. Harvey does not have insurance,” Erickson said. “In my career, it’s the only time I’ve ever seen it. I don’t understand how it’s even legal for a municipality to not have mandatory coverage, just like an auto driver does.”
Harvey is self-insured, the city spokesperson said.