The family of Daniel Adrian Barajas would have celebrated his 40th birthday Thursday, but instead is filing a wrongful-death lawsuit against local officials in Saline County, Arkansas.
The federal lawsuit is part of ongoing questions from the family surrounding an encounter Daniel had with sheriff’s deputies before he was fatally struck by three vehicles, including a truck, on an Arkansas highway on January 15, 2022. .
“We want answers and we want closure,” Xexilia and Raquel Barajas, Daniel’s sisters, told NBC News in a joint interview Thursday morning. “We miss him a lot,” they commented.
Mike Laux, a national civil rights attorney representing the Barajas family, filed the federal lawsuit against the Saline County sheriff’s deputies who interacted with Daniel prior to his death, as well as officials with the Saline County coroner’s office. Saline, who investigated Daniel’s death.
The wrongful death lawsuit, which also alleges excessive force, due process violations and racial profiling, was filed Thursday afternoon in a district court in New Mexico, where Daniel resided.
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