Crime & Law
Family of Chicago Police Officer Krystal Rivera Suing Department, Partner Who Fatally Shot Her
Officer Krystal Rivera. (Courtesy of Chicago Police Department)
The family of Chicago police Officer Krystal Rivera, who was fatally shot in the line of duty this year by her partner, says the shooting came after she broke off a romantic relationship with him.
That claim comes as part of a nine-count wrongful death lawsuit filed by Rivera’s family, who allege that her partner, Officer Carlos A. Baker, failed to render aid and attempted to cover the shooting up after he fired a single shot that struck her during a foot pursuit in Chatham on June 5.
“We miss her laughter, her bold spirit, her light,” Rivera’s mother, Yolanda Rivera, said at a press conference Thursday. “That grief does not ease with time — it doesn’t ease — it follows us every day. From this moment forward, my purpose is simple — that those responsible for her death must be held accountable.”
The Chicago Police Department declined to comment on the lawsuit Thursday.
Antonio Romanucci, an attorney for the Rivera family, said that Rivera and Baker became involved in an on-again, off-again romantic relationship dating back to 2023, which was known to other CPD employees.
Rivera eventually broke that relationship off this year after learning Baker was involved with another woman, attorneys said Thursday, and threatened to inform the other woman of their relationship.
Attorney Maura White said Rivera expressed concerns about Baker’s “adverse reaction” to the breakup and his continued attempts to contact her outside of work. Less than 48 hours before she was shot, Baker showed up at Rivera’s home uninvited after she told him not to come, White said.
Two men — 27-year-old Jaylin Arnold and 25-year-old Adrian Rucker — have been charged in connection with the incident that led to Rivera’s death.
According to Cook County prosecutors, Rivera and her partner observed Arnold walking with “an unusually large bulge” under his jacket allegedly consistent with a drum magazine. When he looked at the officers, Arnold took off running, followed by police, prosecutors said.
Arnold fled into a nearby apartment building, where he was buzzed in by Rucker. The officers made it inside seconds later, where Rivera’s partner allegedly saw Rucker standing behind a couch pointing a firearm at him.
Prosecutors said Rivera’s partner then “accidentally discharged” his firearm, striking and killing her.
Rivera’s family and their attorneys have previously disputed the CPD’s narrative of the shooting, saying during a July press conference that it “does not yet pass the smell test.”
At the time, the family called for a separate investigation into the shooting led by the Illinois State Police and sought to pressure Chicago police officials to publish the body and dash camera footage from the fatal shooting.
Romanucci on Thursday claimed that Baker never rendered any substantive aid to Rivera or called for an ambulance after the shooting, and that it was Rivera herself who called in the shooting.
He also alleged the CPD knew Baker was “reckless” and unfit for duty following previous reprimands and off-duty incidents.
“What could be more disturbing for a Chicago police officer to think than her partner would ever shoot her in the line of duty?” he said. “There could be nothing more shocking when that partner is actually shot and there is nothing more mortifying that when that partner is shot, that the shooting partner leaves her there to die.”
Baker’s attorney Tim Grace maintained that his client “unintentionally discharged” his weapon and that he “immediately called for EMS, carried Krystal to safety, and ensured she was being transported to the hospital.”
Grace said body-worn camera videos will “support these facts and challenge the accuracy and veracity of the allegations made in the complaint.”
“Officer Baker will not be intimidated and will defend his actions that night,” Grace said in a statement. “This is a tragic moment in the history of the Chicago Police Department and I would urge caution to all of the amateur armchair tactical experts until all the evidence has been released.”
The Rivera family has argued Baker shouldn’t have even been with CPD at all, as the Chicago Sun-Times and the Illinois Answers Project reported he racked up three suspensions and two reprimands since becoming an officer in 2021.
That included an incident during Baker’s time as a probationary officer in which he allegedly brandished a firearm at a woman whom he’d met online while she was on a date with another man, according to the Sun-Times and the Illinois Answers Project.
Baker was eventually relieved of his police powers in August following a separate incident in which he allegedly struck another female officer during an incident inside a Wicker Park bar.
That officer has since filed a police report and has claimed she was being treated for a split lip, the Sun-Times and Illinois Answers Project reported at the time. CBS News also reported Baker called a neighboring business and identified himself as a police officer investigating that incident while seeking access to their surveillance footage.
Yolanda Rivera said Thursday there were opportunities for authorities to intervene, yet “nothing was done,” a failure she said led to “devastating consequences.”
“Where is justice for Krystal?” she said. “Let me be clear today, this is about truth, this is about accountability and this is about making sure that what happened to Krystal never happens to another family.”
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