A Michigan city will pay a significant sum to a family after an alarming error by paramedics led to a woman being wrongly declared deceased, only for her to be found alive later at a funeral home.

Southfield, a suburb near Detroit, has agreed to a $3.25 million settlement with the family of Timesha Beauchamp in response to a gross negligence lawsuit, the Associated Press reports.

Beauchamp, 20, who had cerebral palsy and was primarily cared for by her mother, was found unresponsive on August 23, 2020. Her mother called 911, and four EMTs arrived, attempting CPR and ventilation. When their efforts appeared unsuccessful, they mistakenly declared her dead. Beauchamp was transported to a funeral home, where an embalmer discovered she was still alive upon opening the body bag. She was rushed to a nearby hospital and placed on a ventilator, surviving for six more weeks before succumbing to a brain injury.

“We acknowledge that no settlement can reverse the profound tragedy of August 23, 2020, or ease the suffering of Ms. Beauchamp’s family,” Southfield stated to the AP. “This case involved exceptionally challenging circumstances during the complex environment of a global pandemic.”

Family members view the settlement as a step toward justice.

“She was put in a situation she never should have been in,” Steven Hurbis, an attorney for Beauchamp’s family, told the AP.

As Law&Crime previously reported, representatives for Beauchamp’s estate brought a lawsuit against the city of Southfield, Michigan, and the individual emergency medical workers for gross negligence and violation of Beauchamp’s constitutional rights. The case has already made its way through multiple courts, including to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, which ruled in July 2023 that the EMTs were entitled to qualified immunity from the estate’s constitutional claims.

But a Michigan appeals court ruled unanimously in July 2024 to revive the suit.

On appeal from the dismissal, a three-judge panel of the Michigan Court of Appeals reversed and found that the trial court had been premature in dismissing the case before discovery had been conducted.

Primarily at issue is the determination of proximate causation. Beauchamp’s estate alleged that Beauchamp’s death and other injuries were caused by the first responders. The plaintiffs argued that had the EMTs not erroneously declared Beauchamp dead, her family members could have sought additional medical care for her and avoided transporting her in a body bag.

The appeals court did affirm the trial court’s dismissal of claims against two police officer defendants who were called to the scene, noting that the officers’ conduct could not have been the cause of Beauchamp’s injuries when the four EMTs were actually the ones responsible for handling her medical care.