Manuel de Jesus Espina, a 43-year-old Hispanic male, was fatally shot on his birthday, August 16, 2008, in the basement of a Langley Park apartment building where he resided. The man responsible for his death was Steven Jackson, an off-duty Prince George's County police officer who was working as a security guard at the apartment complex.
The encounter between the two men began when Jackson confronted Espina about drinking a beer in public.
The situation escalated into a violent confrontation. Accounts of the incident differ significantly. Jackson claimed that Espina became aggressive, swung at him, and resisted violently, leading Jackson to draw his weapon and shoot Espina in the torso in self-defense. Jackson also alleged that Espina attempted to take his gun.
However, eyewitnesses presented a starkly different narrative. They testified that Espina was unarmed and did not resist. According to these accounts, Jackson pepper-sprayed Espina, beat him with his fists and a metal baton, and then shot him. An autopsy later revealed that Espina had been severely beaten around his left eye and had multiple bruises and contusions on his arms, legs, and back.
Following the fatal shooting, no criminal charges were filed against Steven Jackson. However, Espina's family, including his widow Estela Concepcion Jacome-Espina and his son Manuel de Jesus Espina-Jacome, filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Jackson and Prince George's County. During the civil trial, Espina's son testified that he witnessed Jackson beating his father with a baton and that his father did not fight back. After the shooting, as the younger Espina was administering CPR to his father, Jackson directed another officer to arrest him for second-degree assault and resisting arrest. These charges against Espina's son were later dropped.
In 2011, a civil jury found that Steven Jackson had acted with malice and violated Espina's constitutional rights, rejecting his claim of self-defense. The jury awarded Espina's family $11.5 million in compensatory damages. The court determined that the county was responsible for the wrongful death of Manuel Espina. However, the county later argued that a state law capped the amount they were required to pay to a fraction of the jury's award, leading to a lengthy appeals process.
