Federal Lawsuit Against City and Police Over Killing of Unarmed Man Ends

Winter Park Police shot the man seven times at his niece’s wedding in 2022

July 17, 2025

By Gabrielle Russon

In a lawsuit settlement, the city of Winter Park won’t pay anything to Daniel Knight’s fiancée nor admit any wrongdoing after police shot and killed the unarmed man at his niece’s wedding in 2022.

The federal lawsuit filed by Mellisa Cruz, the mother of two of Knight’s children, against the city of Winter Park and the police was settled and dismissed in May, according to court records. 

The agreement came just months after a partial victory for the family when a federal judge ruled her claim could proceed against one of the officers, who fired his weapon seven times. The judge called the shooting “so far beyond the hazy border between excessive and acceptable force that the official had to know he was violating the Constitution even without case law on point.”

Cruz will not receive any money from Winter Park nor its insurance company nor the officer nor his insurance company, spokeswoman Clarissa Howard confirmed to the Voice.

The probate court must approve the settlement agreement, Howard added.

However, it appears that Cruz could still get some compensation even though no other additional lawsuits have been filed. 

“The city is not party to any other settlement with the plaintiff that may have taken place, however, we understand there may be discussions regarding other settlements,” Howard said, declining to comment further.

Cruz’s attorney Paul Aloise Jr., declined to comment for this story.

Against Knight’s estate, creditors have filed claims for more than $100,000, including about $44,000 for a 2019 Chevrolet Suburban and $47,000 for a 2019 Dodge Ram 1500, according to Polk County Probate Court records.

The probate case became inactive in November 2023 because of the pending wrongful death lawsuit.

A Winter Park Police Sergeant shot and killed Knight, who was unarmed and intoxicated, less than two minutes after arriving at the Winter Park Events Center on Feb. 19, 2022, records show.

Knight’s niece was left in a bloody wedding dress while wedding guests screamed in horror.

The family accused the police of escalating the scene and acting aggressively after a city employee called 911 and complained Knight was behaving in a “violent” manner. The family told police he had too much to drink and they had taken him outside for some air, where he was standing with his sister as police arrived.

Knight got into a scuffle with police after they tried to separate him from his sister and he refused. Knight struck one of the police officers leading up to the shooting, the records also said.

U.S. District Judge Roy B. Dalton Jr. noted Knight had been defending his sister when the police, who did not announce themselves, arrived in the dark at the wedding reception.

Dalton ruled Sgt. Kenton Talton, who killed Knight, was not immune from Cruz’s lawsuit.

Knight’s family had “sufficiently pled that the use of deadly force was not objectively reasonable under these circumstances,” Dalton wrote in his February ruling. “… Shooting an unarmed man seven times at point-blank range within just a few minutes of arriving on scene, without first trying to de-escalate, investigate, or use less-than-deadly force, is also ‘so far beyond the hazy border between excessive and acceptable force that the official had to know he was violating the Constitution even without case law on point.”

The officers involved at the shooting were cleared of any wrongdoing by the Orange County State Attorney in 2023.  

That decision, authorities said, was because Knight did not follow the officers’ commands and Knight hit one of the officers who fell backward and was knocked out. A second officer tried to use his taser on Knight but that failed.

Winter Park leaders celebrated their legal victory in May after the lawsuit’s end.

“I know we were successful with the Knight lawsuit,” Mayor Sheila DeCiccio said when asking the city for an update during the May 28 city council meeting.

“That case has been dismissed, it was really our insurance attorneys working on that,” City Manager Randy Knight said.

Knight’s sister, Katrina Knight, who witnessed the shooting, had spoken out at city council meetings to raise attention about her brother’s death and excessive police force. 

“My family has the right to see Daniel remembered for who he truly was, not for the false narrative that was created to justify his killing,” she wrote city officials in a February email.

She declined to comment for this story because of the pending settlement.

Correction: An earlier version of the story stated the incorrect date for a City Commission meeting in May. The date was May 28. 

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