A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has scheduled the trial date in the Ashli Babbitt estate and family’s $30 million wrongful-death lawsuit for July 20, 2026, conservative watchdog Judicial Watch announced Monday.
An Air Force veteran, Babbitt died on January 6, 2021, after then-Capitol Police lieutenant Michael Byrd shot and killed her during the Capitol riot. Her family seeks to hold the federal government accountable for their relative’s wrongful death. She was 35.
U.S. District Court judge Ana Reyes announced the 2026 trial date during a hearing on Friday after lawyers for Babbitt’s family and the U.S. government argued that a 2025 trial, as originally ordered by the judge, was too soon. Reyes is also considering a motion to move the case to the Southern District of California, where the federal lawsuit was originally filed in January. The Babbitt family lives in San Diego.
“Ashli Babbitt’s family is relieved Ashli’s case is moving forward to trial on all fronts,” Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton said in a statement. “They seek justice and accountability for Ashli’s violent and lawless death at the hands of U.S. Capitol Police Lt. Byrd.”
The lawsuit’s claims include assault and battery and various issues involving negligence in addition to wrongful death.
Ashli’s husband, Aaron Babbitt, acts as the legal representative and administrator of the estate in the case. The couple owned a pool business before her death.
Babbitt was among the January 6 protesters who peacefully entered the Capitol building more than three years ago. She traveled alone from San Diego to Washington, D.C., to attend the Women for America First rally, which featured former president Donald Trump. After the rally, she walked to the Capitol.
The lawsuit stresses that Babbitt had no “unlawful or nefarious” intent that day. “She was there to exercise what she believed were her God-given, American liberties and freedoms,” it says.
The woman was in a crowd of protesters trying to break into the Speaker’s Lobby behind the House chamber, where Byrd spotted her and opened fire as she attempted to climb through the barricaded door. The shooting was captured on video.
Byrd thought the sound of breaking glass was gunshots, according to the lawsuit.
“Lt. Byrd later confessed that he shot Ashli before seeing her hands or assessing her intentions or even identifying her as female,” the complaint states. “Ashli was unarmed. Her hands were up in the air, empty, and in plain view of Lt. Byrd and other officers in the lobby. Ashli posed no threat to the safety of anyone.”
Byrd, who was not dressed in uniform at the time, gave no warning or command before shooting Babbitt. There was also no possible way she would have seen Byrd armed from her position, Capitol Police officer Sergeant Timothy Lively later said. Byrd and Lively are two of nine officers accused of negligence.
“The facts speak truth. Ashli was ambushed when she was shot by Lt. Byrd,” the lawsuit alleges. “Multiple witnesses at the scene yelled, ‘you just murdered her.'”
Despite a federal investigation into the incident, Byrd was never charged or punished for killing Babbitt. The Department of Justice closed the case in April 2021. Months later, the U.S. Capitol Police concluded in its internal investigation that Byrd acted lawfully, abided by department policy, and “potentially saved Members and staff from serious injury and possible death.”
Judicial Watch is representing the Babbitt family in the case.