$3M Civil Rights Settlement For A Man Shot In North Carolina

$3M Civil Rights Settlement For A Man Shot In North Carolina

Introduction

A lawsuit brought by the family of an unarmed Black man who was shot and killed in his car by sheriff's deputies more than a year ago has been settled for $3 million, according to a North Carolina sheriff's office.

The plaintiff died as a result of police' deliberate and reckless disregard for his life, according to the plaintiff's family, who filed a $30 million civil rights claim in 2021. On April 21, 2021, Pasquotank County Sheriff's officers shot and killed him in his Elizabeth City, North Carolina, residence while executing drug-related search warrants. His BMW was encircled by deputies before it backed up and started to drive. They shot at and into his car repeatedly. A gunshot to the back of his skull claimed his life.

At a press conference the previous year, the district attorney said that the plaintiff had used his vehicle as a lethal weapon, leading deputies to conclude that lethal action was justified. However, the plaintiff's attorneys argued that the shot was unlawful since the man did not constitute a threat because he was driving away from the officers rather than toward them. They claimed that the plaintiff was sitting in his stopped car with his hands on the wheel when the first of several rounds were fired after seeing body-camera footage of the shooting.

The settlement was approved by the Pasquotank County Board of Commissioners. It includes a special $1-million compensation to go along with $2 million from the county's insurance policy, which was supplied by the North Carolina Counties Liabilities Pool, according to a statement from the sheriff’s office. That amount is at the limit of the policy. The settlement was reached over several weeks last month. The case was overseen by a federal magistrate in U.S. District Court in Raleigh.

The county's contribution settles any possible claims against the defendants and any individual officers, who were identified as defendants in the action or who may have been. The plaintiff's family also signed a stipulation waiving any claims against the defendants, Pasquotank County Sheriff Tommy Wooten II and three sheriff's deputies as well as any other claims that may have resulted from the plaintiff's passing. According to the sheriff's office, his children will get a portion of the settlement money as his estate's heirs.

According to a statement from the five attorneys representing the plaintiff's family, the plaintiff was a caring father who wanted his children to enjoy the things he did not. This arrangement is about protecting those children's futures, insuring their education, and making sure their aspirations didn't die with their father, even if no settlement could ever completely cover the hole his death left in their hearts.

The plaintiff's family's case was the most recent in a line of federal civil rights lawsuits brought after high-profile police shootings of Black and brown persons at the time. Many resulted in settlements, which frequently included cash but did not contain an acknowledgment of guilt. A jury may make enormous settlements in some instances that go to trial, which are later reduced on appeal.

The plaintiff was shot five times, including once in the back of the head, according to an independent autopsy that was requested by the family. Family members who later watched a piece of the body camera footage in private testimony claimed the plaintiff was attempting to flee in his car when he was shot. Days of demonstrations in the small, rural northeastern North Carolina city followed the incident.