FILE - Police officer Krystal Rivera talks about why she decided to become an officer after a graduation ceremony, Oct. 20, 2021, at Navy Pier in Chicago. (Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times via AP, File)
FILE - Police officer Krystal Rivera talks about why she decided to become an officer after a graduation ceremony, Oct. 20, 2021, at Navy Pier in Chicago. (Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times via AP, File)
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The Chicago Police Department knew that Officer Carlos Baker was reckless and posed a threat to his partner, Krystal Rivera, before Baker fatally shot her last summer while the pair attempted to apprehend a suspect with a gun, a lawsuit filed Thursday claims.
Rivera, 36, had told supervisors she feared for her safety with Baker as her partner and had ended a two-year on-again, off-again romantic relationship with him shortly before the shooting on June 5, according to the lawsuit. Additionally, the department knew of Baker's history of complaints, including one filed by a woman once romantically involved with Baker who said he had threatened her with a gun in a bar, it adds.
The lawsuit was filed in Cook County Circuit Court by Rivera's mother, Yolanda Rivera. It names Baker and the city of Chicago as defendants and seeks compensatory and punitive damages of more than $50,000 for most of its nine counts. It contends Baker shot Rivera in the back and failed to notify anyone of the shooting or render even rudimentary first aid to her.
“Krystal understood the dangers of this job. She accepted the risk that came with policing. What she never should have had to fear was her own partner,” Yolanda Rivera said at a news conference. “That betrayal cost Krystal’s life."
Spokespersons for the city and the police department, which was not named as a defendant, declined to comment on the lawsuit. Baker does not have a listed phone number and it is unknown if he has an attorney.
Rivera and Baker, both members of a police tactical unit, had conducted a traffic stop on a motorist suspected of having a gun. A foot chase ensued and ended outside an apartment. According to the lawsuit, Baker was positioned in front of the door, and Rivera was to the side or behind him. Baker kicked in the door to reveal the suspect with a gun.
Baker fired his weapon but struck Rivera in the back, Rivera family attorney Antonio Romanucci said, but instead of reporting that an officer had been hit, he fled to another floor of the apartment building.
“He did not attempt even the most basic first aid step of applying pressure on her wound to mitigate blood loss, or try any other lifesaving measures,” Romanucci said. “Baker left Krystal there on the floor, literally gasping. Krystal radioed in her own shooting.”
The police department, he said, filed reports with state regulators claiming the shots had come from a suspect who had been barricaded.
The Cook County State's Attorney declined prosecution in the case, but Romanucci said he hopes the office will reconsider based on what his team has uncovered.
Romanucci said Baker currently has “no role, absolutely, in policing."
Romanucci said Baker had accumulated 11 misconduct complaints in three years, a record worse than 95% of Chicago police officers. In December 2022, he threatened an ex-girlfriend in a tavern by brandishing a weapon, a charge Romanucci said was investigated by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability with no conclusion. That office declined comment.
Rivera was hired as a Chicago police officer in February 2021 and was partnered with Baker in January 2023. The two began a romantic relationship in June of that year, but she requested a different partner, citing Baker's “prior reckless conduct,” according to the lawsuit.
The change was granted, but after Rivera was promoted to a tactical unit, she learned in early 2024 that Baker would again be her partner. Baker was removed as a tactical officer in April 2024 because his lack of years of service made him ineligible. However, he was reassigned as Rivera's tactical team partner in March 2025.
Rivera learned last winter that Baker had a live-in girlfriend, ended her relationship with Baker for good, and repeatedly told Baker she intended to tell the other woman about their relationship, the lawsuit says. She told colleagues she had concerns about Baker's “negative and hostile reaction" to the breakup. The complaint says that Baker continued to ask her to see him outside of work and showed up at her home early on June 4 against Rivera's wishes.
“He never should have gotten past his probationary period. He was not fit to police our communities, let alone carry a gun under the color of law,” Romanucci said. “The decision CPD made to keep Carlos Baker on the force was not costly. It was fatal.”
