The family of a homeless man who died after a bulldozer crushed his tent last year during an encampment sweep filed a lawsuit Friday against the nonprofits involved in clearing the encampment, the second lawsuit they filed over his death.
The lawsuit says Partners for HOME and SafeHouse Outreach are partly responsible for Taylor's death because employees did not check whether Taylor, 46, was in his tent before a bulldozer was deployed to clear it, flattening his tent while he was in it and leaving blood on the street.
Taylor lived in an encampment on Old Wheat Street in Atlanta, which city officials asked to clear ahead of celebrations for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday last January. The encampment was near Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King had preached and now the site of annual events to honor him.
Partners for HOME is the city's lead agency on homelessness. SafeHouse Outreach is another Atlanta nonprofit that serves unhoused people. The lawsuit says the organizations should have known to check Taylor's tent after they did outreach at the site in advance.
Cathryn Vassell, CEO of Partners for HOME, said the nonprofit cannot comment on the lawsuit because they have not seen it but “is committed to its mission making homelessness in Atlanta rare, brief and nonrecurring." SafeHouse Outreach did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Taylor's family sued the city of Atlanta in July, alleging city employees also should have checked whether Taylor was in his tent.
Taylor’s death sparked outrage among local advocates and neighbors at the encampment who at the time called the city’s policies on clearing encampments inhumane. They said the city faces a dire affordable housing shortage that makes it inevitable that people will end up living on the streets.
Right after Taylor’s death, the city put a temporary moratorium on encampment sweeps. With the FIFA World Cup coming to Atlanta this Summer, the city has since resumed clearing encampments with the goal of eliminating all homelessness in the downtown area before then. Partners for HOME is close to its goal of housing 400 people ahead of the World Cup, said Vassell.
The lawsuit filed Friday seeks unspecified damages as well as compensation for medical and hospital bills, burial costs, attorney’s fees and litigation costs.
Harold Spence, one of the lawyers representing the family, said at a news conference Friday that city officials and the nonprofit employees didn’t want the “dignitaries” attending the Martin Luther King Jr. event to see the encampment.
“They were in a rush to remove it,” Spence said. “Unfortunately, it turned out they were willing to remove it at any cost.”
Spence added that Taylor had recently secured a job and was ready to “turn his life around.”
Kramon is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
FILE - Family members and activists protest the death of Cornelius Taylor, an unhoused man killed when the city cleared an encampment last week, in front of City Hall in Atlanta, Jan. 23, 2025. (Arvin Temkar/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, File)
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Valentine's Day can be a secondary consideration for some in Lagos.
The Nigerian city of more than 20 million people is renowned for its hustle and bustle, its restless energy and commercial drive — a place where honks from signature yellow passenger buses fill the air.
But Lagos-based rock musician Bianca Okorocha, known as “Clayrocksu," wants people to pause and feel loved as Valentine's Day approaches.
She is taking her music offstage and onto the streets of the city, crooning love songs to random commuters and handing them single-stem roses.
Their faces, first shocked at the encounter, give way to a broad smile as she pulls the strings of her guitar, twanging to James Blunt’s “You are Beautiful.”
“I am a musician, and we just thought it was a special and nice thing to do for people,” Clayrocksu told The Associated Press. “Especially in this time and climate where everything is kind of difficult and all you hear on the news is bad news.”
Since Nigerian President Bola Tinubu came to power in 2023, he has undertaken major economic reforms, including the removal of a decades-old fuel subsidy program. The government said the changes would save costs and boost investment, but they have resulted in one of the West African nation’s worst cost of living crises in a generation.
The country’s deadly security crisis has also worsened the fate of millions, limiting access to farmland in the conflict-battered north, which in turn resulted in a surge in the prices of goods elsewhere, including in the economic hub of Lagos.
But amid the tough times, people like Clayrocksu are bringing joy and color to many across the vibrant city in this season of love.
Barbara Lulu, a Lagos resident, who got serenaded by Clayrocksu and her partner, was going about her day stressed until the rock team showed up.
“First off, this was a very shocking moment for me, because I never expected it. It just kind of happened, and all I can say is yay!” she said.
In a city where Valentine’s Day is usually focused on lovers, Clayrocksu said that she wants to change that perception and bring roses to many others.
“People think that Valentine’s Day is only about romantic gestures, only boyfriend and girlfriend, husband and wife,” she said. “But Valentine is really just about sharing love.”
Nigerian rock musician Bianca "Clayrocksu" Okorocha, right, accompanied by Daniel Onyemachi-Chiweolu, popularly known as Machigold, left, gives single-stem roses crooning love songs to commuters ahead of Valentine's Day in Lagos, Nigeria, Tuesday, Feb.10, 2026. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
Nigerian rock musician Bianca “Clayrocksu” Okorocha, right, poses for a photograph with Barbara Lulu, a Lagos resident, left, after handing her a single-stem rose ahead of Valentine's Day in Lagos, Nigeria, Tuesday, Feb.10, 2026. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
A commuter, right reacts as Nigerian rock musician Bianca "Clayrocksu" Okorocha, left, accompanied by Daniel Onyemachi-Chiweolu, popularly known as Machigold, behind, sings love songs handing single-stem roses to commuters ahead of Valentine's Day in Lagos, Nigeria, Tuesday, Feb.10, 2026. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
A woman reacts after receiving a single-stem rose from Nigerian rock musician Bianca "Clayrocksu" Okorocha ahead of Valentine's Day on a street in Lagos, Nigeria, Tuesday, Feb.10, 2026. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
Nigerian rock musician Bianca "Clayrocksu" Okorocha, accompanied by Daniel Onyemachi-Chiweolu, popularly known as Machigold, hugs a woman after giving her a single-stem rose and crooning love songs ahead of Valentine's Day in Lagos, Nigeria, Tuesday, Feb.10, 2026. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
