Among other allegations of misconduct, complaint says East Cleveland’s lead detective Kenneth Lundy was having an abusive and manipulative sexual relationship with the chief witness for the prosecution.
CLEVELAND — When a jury convicted Jerry Sims of the 2017 murder of a man named Jamarr Forkland—based almost entirely on the testimony of Mr. Sims’ girlfriend, Erica Campbell—there was a lot they didn’t know.
They didn’t know that the East Cleveland police only got Campbell to implicate Mr. Sims by threatening her, manipulating her, and preying upon her vulnerability, ultimately convincing her that Mr. Sims was a danger to her and that she needed their protection.
Most importantly, the jury didn’t know that the lead detective, Kenneth Lundy, had begun an abusive and manipulative sexual relationship with Campbell, through which he had pressured and coerced her to lie and implicate Mr. Sims. They had no way of knowing that this inappropriate relationship between the lead detective and the star witness had continued throughout the trial, or that, when Campbell became pregnant with his baby, Lundy had coerced her to have an abortion in order to keep the relationship secret.
By the time these facts came out in 2025—after Campbell recanted her testimony—Lundy had been promoted to Acting Police Chief of East Cleveland, and Mr. Sims had served more than seven years (of a 40-year sentence) for a murder he did not commit. Based on Campbell’s recantation, Mr. Sims’ conviction was vacated in April 2025, and the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office agreed to dismiss all charges against him, conceding that “a constitutional violation occurred at trial.”
“There was never any physical evidence tying Jerry to this murder,” says attorney Jon Loevy, who represents Mr. Sims. “The only thing they had was Campbell’s testimony, which was entirely fabricated in one of the most egregious examples of witness coercion and manipulation that most of us have ever seen.”
On Tuesday night, attorneys for Jerry Sims filed a civil lawsuit in federal court, asking a jury to rule on damages for his wrongful conviction and imprisonment. The lawsuit names as defendants current and former East Cleveland police officers Kenneth Lundy, Joseph Marche, Kevin Harvey, Scott Gardner, Reginald Holcombe, and Jeffrey Williams, along with the City of East Cleveland itself, charging them with nine counts of violating Mr. Sims’ rights, including malicious prosecution, failure to intervene, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and conspiracy.
Kenneth Lundy—then Acting Police Chief—was fired in July 2025 by the new Mayor, Lateek Shabazz. “When I came in, I promised to reform the police department, and that’s what I’m doing right now,” said Shabazz. “We have to put a police chief in office that’s honorable and (goes) by the law.”
Last month, Kenneth Lundy was indicted on 31 criminal charges—some, though not all, stemming from the Sims case—including perjury, falsification, bribery, witness intimidation, menacing, obstruction, and assault.
“No one is above the law, especially those who are sworn to uphold it,” said Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael C. O’Malley. “Former East Cleveland Police Chief Kenneth Lundy’s actions represent a complete abuse of power and betrayal of the public’s trust. We will hold anyone who engages in public corruption fully accountable.”
Accountability is also Mr. Sims’ goal in filing this lawsuit, his attorneys say.
“Nothing can pay Jerry back for the years of his life that were stolen,” says Loevy. “But he deserves justice, and the people of East Cleveland deserve to see their police force held accountable for the sordid and rampant corruption exemplified by Mr. Lundy and his fellow officers.”
Mr. Sims is represented by Jon Loevy, Rachel Troutman, and Aaron Tucek of the civil rights law firm of Loevy + Loevy.
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For a copy of the complaint in this case, click here.