By Thane Grauel

WESTPORT — A man whose estranged partner killed their 7-year-old daughter and herself in June 2021 has filed a federal lawsuit against the town, and several Westport police officers and state troopers.

Eric Malon’s civil rights suit — which alleges unlawful treatment by investigators including being forcibly handcuffed, detained without cause, taken to police headquarters and subjected to a full-body search and having his cell phone and work van seized — was filed Friday in the U.S. District Court of Connecticut.

The suit alleges several violations of Malon’s constitutional rights. His lawyer is Cameron L. Atkinson of Harwinton.

Tragedy troubled many in Westport

What was determined to be a murder-suicide shocked and upset many in Westport, particularly because it involved the slaying of a young child.

“June 17, 2021 was the worst day of Eric Malon’s life,” Atkinson wrote in the 39-page complaint. “His estranged partner, Tracy Chinh Do, drowned his seven-year-old daughter, Layla Malon, in their Westport home’s bathtub and then committed suicide. Do’s body was discovered by his then-thirteen-year-old daughter when she returned from school.”

“Members of the Westport Police Department, the Connecticut State Police, and a State’s Attorney then turned the worst possible tragedy that a father can suffer into a hellish nightmare by preying on Malon’s emotional vulnerability and grief to escalate the situation, physically assaulting him under the pretense of securing evidence that Malon had already explained he was willing to give, obtaining a search warrant under a falsified presentation of facts to cover up their own conduct, detaining him for hours, and keeping him separate from his remaining daughter for the critical hours of grief where they needed each other the most,” the suit continued.

The suit names several police officials in their individual capacity only, including Chief Foti Koskinas, Deputy Chief Ryan Paulsson and Lt. Eric Woods, as well as several local officers, state troopers and an unknown official from the State’s Attorney’s Office.

“The gravamen of this unconscionable behavior? Detectives demanded that Malon give them his phone so they could rule him out as a suspect in his daughter and estranged partner’s deaths,” the complaint reads.

“Malon refused because his phone had pictures of his daughter and everything he needed for work as a self-employed contractor, and he did not expect to ever see his phone again. Despite Malon asking to wait for his attorney to arrive, police continued to push Malon for his phone — while he was sitting in his van crying over his daughter’s death no less — attempting to coerce Malon by threats until he demanded that they get out of his face and used a colorful variety of other profanity toward the officers.

“The officers had no probable cause to suspect Malon in the deaths of his estranged partner and daughter, and their actions were retaliation for a grieving man’s outburst,” the complaint states. “And they told him as much too. Upon information and belief, their most outrageous hits included the following:

a. ‘I kept telling you to relax and you kept telling us to f*** off and walk away so now you’re going in cuffs.’

b. ‘We’ll take them off [the cuffs], but you gotta work with us.’

c. ‘You were given the option before that we could take it [Malon’s phone], download it, and give it back to you. That option is now gone.’”

The suit states Malon was never charged and police knew early on the incident was a murder-suicide.

Still the suit alleges, “Koskinas and his subordinates continue to retaliate against Malon for his speech during the worst situation of his life, delaying and denying his application for a pistol permit for over two years by accusing him of lying on his permit application and declining to accept a corrected application.”

“The past three years have broken Malon’s heart, subjected him to indignity after indignity, and yielded violation after violation of his constitutional rights,” the complaint states. “Malon now seeks redress for his injuries, bringing claims for First Amendment retaliation, Fourth Amendment violations, due process violations, and numerous state law tort claims.”

The suit alleges investigators from the Westport Police Department and State Police relentlessly pressured Malon to give up his cell phone while he was in the throes of grief and put him in handcuffs. The suit argues that all of Malon’s business contacts (he’s a self-employed carpenter) and photos of his daughter were on the phone. He said he’d agree if police agreed to download the information and return the phone to him the same day, the suit states.

Police offered to take the cuffs off, the suit states, and that Malon eventually used profanity in his responses.

“Initially, the Defendants thought better of their handcuffing of Malon and planned to release him: “’Fair enough. We’ll take the cuffs off you now, but you gotta relax,” the complaint states.

“Before doing so though, the Defendants consulted with Defendant Unknown State’s Attorney who instructed them to keep Malon in handcuffs and custody until they could get a search and seizure warrant: ‘The route we have to go now — we have to go now — is we’re gonna get a search warrant for the phone to take it out of your pocket’ and ‘I’m not negotiating with you … you’re staying detained, per the State’s Attorney ’til we get a search warrant for your person to take the phone out of your pocket. You were given the option before that. We could take it, download it, and give it back to you. That option is now gone.’”

He was eventually handcuffed, and then taken to Westport Police Headquarters.

“The Defendants then transported Malon to the Westport Police station, subjected him to the indignity of a full body search, confiscated all of his property under the guise of an inventory search, and placed him in a holding cell,” the suit states.

Town/Police position as yet unknown

No response from the town, state, or any of the defendants appears yet in federal court records.

It’s not clear who will be handling the federal case for the town.

Outside counsel is usually hired to handle federal cases involving the town, which are not common.

Town Attorney Ira Bloom was on vacation, his office said Tuesday.

A call to Assistant Town Attorney Eileen Flug was not returned Tuesday.

Woods, who is named a defendant in the suit and serves as the Police Department spokesman, hadn’t heard about the lawsuit. He said Tuesday the department would have no comment.

“It’s pending litigation,” Woods said.

Thane Grauel grew up in Westport and has been a journalist in Fairfield County and beyond for 36 years. Reach him at editor@westportjournal.com. Learn more about us here.