EXCLUSIVE: Family sues West Palm Beach, 7 officers over deadly high-speed chase that killed pregnant mother and her mom
By Terri Parker
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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (WPBF) — The family of two women killed in a crash connected to an alleged unauthorized police chase is suing the city of West Palm Beach and the seven officers involved.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday, blames a high-speed pursuit by West Palm Beach police for the deaths of 54-year-old Marcia Pochette and her 27-year-old daughter, Jenice Woods, who was newly pregnant.
Investigative reporter Terri Parker first exposed the chase and its aftermath, and on Tuesday, she was given exclusive access to the family and their legal team as they announced the lawsuit.
“I still see her face because they took us to the hospital and allowed us to see them. That’s the image. I’ll never forget the car. I can see it right now. My eyes open. I see the car. It’s not OK,” said Jenice’s husband, Devin Woods.
Devin and his father-in-law, Junel Pochette, say they are determined to fight for accountability after losing both Devin’s pregnant wife and Junel’s wife and daughter in the same instant.
“That all of us, my wife, my daughter, they look down over us. They want us to fight,” Junel said.
According to the complaint, it started with a simple traffic stop in West Palm Beach. Officers in three vehicles are accused of chasing a car driven by Neoni Copeland through several cities at speeds topping 100 miles per hour, all the way into Boynton Beach.
“There was no reason for these gentlemen to be chasing Neoni Copeland on the day of this tragedy,” attorney Scott Smith said.
Police say Copeland’s car slammed into Jenice’s vehicle, killing both her and her mother.
“For many nights, I cried myself to sleep. The pain was unbearable, and it took a lot of counseling and a lot of prayer to even get to this point, to have enough strength to sit here today,” Devin said.
But the family says what happened after the impact makes their grief even harder to bear. Three of the officers are now criminally charged with slowing down at the crash site, turning around and leaving without rendering aid or calling 911.
“They slowed down, they observed, and they left. I cannot help but think, were either of them alive?” attorney Linda Capobianco said.
The lawsuit also accuses the West Palm Beach Police Department of allowing a long-running pattern of unauthorized pursuits, citing six other incidents since 2002 where people were allegedly injured or killed in crashes tied to police chases.
“The lawsuit goes through example after example after example of these needless chases that should not have happened and that were avoidable,” attorney Kevin Anderson said.
Attorney Jerome Stone said the family wants more than money.
“But that’s what we’re looking to do out of this. There needs to be change for what the police do and how they do it,” Stone said.
For the family, the change has already been devastating and permanent.
“Our lives changed and will never be the same. No matter what we do to move on, what we do to fight for them, it will never be the same. We’re missing two people that we loved very much. And so our lives will never, never be the same,” Devin said through tears.
The city of West Palm Beach and the police department say they do not comment on pending litigation. The seven officers are awaiting trial and have all been fired from the department.
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