Note: the information contained in this article is sourced from a combination of court documents, records, and testimony.

On Tuesday, November 25th at the Eugene Federal Courthouse, a week-long trial for a wrongful death lawsuit initiated by the estate of the late Eliborio Rodriguez Jr. ended with the jury ruling against Rodriguez's estate, denying the family financial recompense for their loss. Forty-year-old Eliborio (Eli) Rodriguez was shot and killed by Eugene PD Officer Samuel Tykol on November 30, 2019.

Six years ago this week, unarmed Eli Rodriguez was profiled and stopped by EPD Officer Tykol for walking in the street wearing all black "in a quiet neighborhood in the middle of the night," according to court documents. When Rodriguez was approached by Tykol, he was collecting cans to take to bottle drop to help support his family. By the end of a four minute interaction, Tykol had shot Rodriguez three times and he then died at the scene. Tykol's body camera footage showed only two minutes of their interaction before his camera reportedly fell and was switched off during an alleged scuffle between him and Rodriguez.

In the brief body camera footage, Rodriguez asks for a sergeant (superior officer) eleven times. Ignoring this request, Tykol put his hands on Rodriguez in an attempt to restrain him after Tykol asked if he had an ID and Rodriguez asserted his right to not respond. When Tykol insisted he sit down, Rodriguez said, "I want to talk to a real officer please," at which point Tykol forced him to the ground. The body camera footage does not show Rodriguez using any kind of force against Tykol, but does show that Tykol escalated quickly and initiated the use of force against Rodriguez only one minute into the interaction by grabbing a hold of Rodriguez’s arm. He then pulled him to the ground, used “focused blows” (punches) and pepper spray to try and get Rodriguez to put his hands behind his back to be handcuffed. The footage captured Rodriguez calling for neighbors to come help him. The camera then cuts off. After this point, the only witness to Rodriguez's death is his murderer, with backup officers arriving at the scene seconds after Tykol used lethal force.

As backup arrived, Tykol was struggling to handcuff Rodriguez who he had just shot in the abdomen three times. Responding Officer Justin Russell helped Tykol handcuff Rodriguez --who was face down on the ground-- before he noticed Tykol's taser and the pool of blood beneath Rodriguez. Tykol picked up his radio and called for medics 45 seconds after they handcuffed Rodriguez. According to Russell's testimony, paramedics arrived more than six minutes later, too late to help and at which point Rodriguez was pronounced dead.

Testimony from another responding officer, Lieutenant Jeremy Sullivan, further demonstrated EPD's attitude and priorities concerning this shooting. Responding Officer Jentzsch's body camera footage showed that upon arriving at the scene, one of the first things then-Sergeant Sullivan said to Tykol was, "just want to make sure your body camera isn't on," to which Jentzsch replied, "my body camera is on, can I mute it?" Sullivan then told Jentzsch to mute his camera. On the stand, Sullivan testified that if it weren't an officer who killed someone, he would have kept his body camera on. He stated he did not consider Tykol a homicide suspect.

Sullivan also testified that he was responsible for taking care of Tykol that night. Sullivan recalled that Tykol's typical behavior is serious on calls for service and jovial and joking at the office. He testified that at the hospital he and Tykol were "joking around in our normal jovial fashion," and that Tykol joked with him about the shooting. He remembered Tykol saying "all my rounds hit," meaning all the shots he fired hit his target: Eliborio Rodriguez.

Rodriguez was murdered by a 27-year-old white cop who stopped him because he looked out of place in a nice neighborhood, a decision the state has relentlessly defended. District Attorney Patty Perlow refused to pursue charges against Tykol, calling the shooting justified. In the years following the shooting, Tykol was promoted to sergeant and helps hire and train new officers. Tykol testified on the stand last week that he does not regret the killing nor any of his actions that led to it, emboldened by unconditional support from EPD, the very agency that continues to grant Tykol power.

The plaintiff's objective in the lawsuit was to prove to the jury that Tykol's actions needlessly escalated his interaction with Rodriguez, abandoning EPD de-escalation, use of force, and foot pursuit protocols, which negligently led to Rodriguez's untimely death. They argued that all Tykol would have needed to do differently was slow down the pace of escalation and allow backup to arrive. The plaintiff also demonstrated the impact of Rodriguez's murder on the children he left behind, with his two eldest sons --Joshoua and Danyel-- testifying to the overall impact of losing their father to police violence. Despite days of damning testimony contradicting Tykol's justification for his actions and his alleged timeline of events that night, the jury was somehow unconvinced.

The defense was steadfast that Tykol did not act negligently, and that he took reasonable action to preserve his own life. The state, in essence, convinced a jury that a father of five deserved to die for suspected jaywalking based mostly on Tykol's one-sided account. In closing arguments, they proudly declared that because of this trial, Tykol finally gets to tell his story. And since the only other witness to the events from that night is deceased, Tykol's version of events was uncritically accepted by EPD, and ultimately an eight person jury, as proof that Rodriguez was more responsible in his own death than Tykol was.

No amount of money would ever bring back Eli Rodriguez, but that's not the point. This case means that once again, Tykol, EPD, and the City of Eugene shirked responsibility for Rodriguez's murder-- a woefully predictable testament to the unwillingness of the U.S. court system to bring justice to victims of police violence who are poor, brown, or otherwise marginalized. Eli Rodriguez's constitutional rights were violated from the outset of his interaction with Tykol, to his extrajudicial murder, and even up to today with the denial of recompense by a jury of so-called peers.

The case as a whole demonstrates the potentially fatal implications that overpolicing petty issues can have on citizens. And because justice is nonexistent in this case, Tykol is presently assigned to the downtown Eugene beat (5th to 15th Aves. & Lincoln to High St.) where he primarily interacts with folks committing minor, so-called "quality of life" violations, such as trespassing. In 2021, retired Eugene police auditor Mark Gissiner condemned EPD leadership, stating that Tykol's initial contact with Rodriguez was flawed from the beginning and under no circumstance should Rodriguez have been killed that night. Under no circumstance should Tykol have gotten away with this murder.

For whatever their reasons may be, the jury ultimately ruled that Rodriguez was 55% responsible for the events of November 30, 2019 that led to Tykol shooting him. If they had determined that he was only 5% less responsible, or 50% responsible, Rodriguez's family could still have won some amount for the harm they've suffered and will continue to endure. Rodriguez's family and supporters were in disbelief over the verdict, and the future for them seeking justice through legal avenues is now unclear. For now, they continue to mourn and honor the loving legacy of Eli Rodriguez. On the six year anniversary of his death, his family continues on in his memory and the broader community remembers his name and this case in the continued fight for justice.

Samuel Tykol

***Editor's Note: A sentence was edited for clarity and precision following publishing date... "When Rodriguez was approached by Tykol, he was collecting cans to deposit to help support his family" was changed to "he was collecting cans to take to bottle drop to support his family."