Southfield Approves $3.25M Settlement in 2020 Paramedic Case

The city council of Southfield, a suburb of Detroit, has approved a $3.25 million settlement with the family of Timesha Beauchamp, a 20-year-old woman with cerebral palsy who was prematurely declared dead by paramedics in 2020, only to be discovered alive hours later at a funeral home.

The incident unfolded on August 23, 2020, when Beauchamp's family called 911 reporting that she was struggling to breathe at their home in Southfield, located about 14 miles north of downtown Detroit. Paramedics arrived and spent nearly 30 minutes attempting to resuscitate her. They consulted a doctor, who pronounced her dead over the phone without examining her in person. Family members later reported feeling a pulse and observing her gasp for air, but emergency responders insisted she had passed away. A police officer at the scene provided the family with a case number from the Oakland County Medical Examiner's office and instructed them to contact a funeral home.

Beauchamp's body was placed in a body bag and transported to the funeral home. When staff unzipped the bag later that day, they found her eyes open, her chest moving, and her gasping for air. She was immediately rushed to a hospital...