Judge rules lawsuit can proceed against Winter Park police officer who killed man at wedding

The federal judge noted in his order that Daniel Knight “posed little serious danger to two armed police because he was unarmed and drunk” when he was shot by an officer at the Winter Park Events Center in 2022

Feb. 25, 2025

By Gabrielle Russon

The Winter Park Police sergeant who shot and killed Daniel Knight at his niece’s wedding is not immune from a wrongful death lawsuit, a federal judge ruled recently.

U.S. District Judge Roy B. Dalton Jr. said Knight’s family had “sufficiently pled that the use of deadly force was not objectively reasonable under these circumstances” and denied a motion to dismiss Sgt. Kenton Talton from the lawsuit filed last year by Knight’s family.

“Here, Knight’s family begged the officers to slow down and pleaded that he was not hurting anyone, but Talton shot him less than two minutes after arriving on the scene,” Dalton wrote in his Jan. 28 order. “Yet the initial crime for which (Knight) was approached was relatively insignificant—at best, drunk and disorderly. He posed little serious danger to two armed police because he was unarmed and drunk. He was not a flight risk given that he was surrounded by family.”

It’s the latest court update after Knight was shot and killed in 2022 at the Winter Park Events Center.

The Orange County State Attorney cleared the police officers of any criminal wrongdoing in 2023.

Nearly one year ago, Mellisa Cruz, who is the mother of Knight’s two children, sued the City of Winter Park, Winter Park Police Chief Timothy Volkerson, Talton and Officer Craig Campbell in a federal lawsuit. (Daniel Knight and family pictured above.)

Dalton wrote police’s use of force must be “proportional to the need.”

“… 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,’” Dalton wrote.

Meanwhile, Dalton ordered Campbell, who had also been involved in the scuffle that night, to be removed as a party from the lawsuit and the claims dismissed without prejudice, which means Cruz could retry again in court.

“Campbell is a different story,” the judge wrote. “Campbell did not shoot Knight, nor is there any suggestion in the Complaint that Campbell intended for Talton to do so. … So on these facts, Talton is not entitled to sovereign immunity, but Campbell is.”

The officers, the judge wrote, did not identify themselves as police when they arrived at the wedding and asked Knight to put his hands behind his back. It was also dark so wedding guests could not see the officers’ uniforms, the judge also said. 

Knight’s sister stood in front of her brother to defend him as the incident quickly escalated. Campbell grabbed her and that’s when Knight hit Cambell to defend his sister. Talton and Knight got into a ‘brief scuffle’ and then Talton fired, the judge wrote in summarizing what happened.

The judge acknowledged Knight struck Campbell but wrote “that must be placed in the context that the police did not announce themselves and he was defending his sister from an apparent stranger who grabbed her.”

The officers first attempted to deploy a taser on Knight, but missed, according to police reports.

Some of the claims in Cruz’s lawsuit accused police of violating Knight’s constitutional rights. Dalton dismissed the 14th Amendment, but ruled Cruz’s 4th Amendment claim can continue to be litigated. The lawsuit contended Knight had been deprived of his life, liberty, and due process of law as well as the constitutional right to be free from excessive force.

Cruz’s attorney said he was pleased with the judge’s ruling which allows all but one of Cruz’s claims to move forward even though he said he disagrees and believes Campbell played “a key role in escalating the encounter.”

“The Court’s ruling allows us to continue to fight in the pursuit of justice for the entire Knight family, as Daniel’s life was taken far too soon and without justification,” Paul Aloise Jr. said in a statement Tuesday. 

Talton and Campbell’s attorney Joshua Walker filed a motion last year to dismiss the lawsuit, urging the courts to “keep in mind” police are required to make quick decisions under high-stress circumstances.

“Knight had reportedly engaged in violent, drunken altercations with wedding guests inside the venue before the officers arrived. He was drunk, irate, resisting anyone with authority, acting violently and throwing the wedding guests to the floor. Knight continued this aggression when the officers arrived, and when he was told to place his hands behind his back, he immediately punched Ofc. Campbell, then engaged in a ‘brief scuffle’ with Sgt. Talton. This created a pressing emergency that required Sgt. Talton to act fast in order to protect himself, his fellow officer, and the surrounding citizens,” Walker wrote in his motion to dismiss. “Sgt. Talton and Ofc. Campbell were undeniably placed in a tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving situation. This is precisely the circumstance in which officers are afforded deference in carrying out the most difficult aspects of their service.”

Walker did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday on the judge’s ruling.

In a response filed last week, Talton denied the lawsuit’s allegations and continued to blame Knight for the shooting.

Talton argued “Daniel Knight was more than 50% at fault for the incident” and was guilty of negligence causing his own death since Knight drank alcohol “to the point of intoxication,” behaved aggressively, ignored policers’ instructions and committed felonies against the police officers.

City spokeswoman Clarissa Howard declined to comment for this story because of the pending litigation. 

Knight’s family had regularly spoken out at Winter Park City Commission meetings since their loved one’s death.

“The police just ignored us. They want to talk about all the commands they gave us. They don’t talk about how they escalated the situation by getting louder and louder and getting into an argument with a drunk person who wasn’t even committing a crime,” said Katrina Knight, who described her brother as a loving father who had a fiancé.

WinterParkVoiceEditor@gmail.com

Gabrielle Russon is a former Orlando Sentinel reporter who began freelance writing in 2021. She lives in Orlando with her family and writes about politics, education, theme parks and the courts.