An order filed in U.S. District Court in Cleveland in the state of OH, said the city will pay out three million dollars this year and three million dollars next.
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The estate of Tamir Rice receives $5.5m, with $250,000 going to his mother, Samaria, and $250,000 to a recipient listed as TR.
“Although it’s historic in financial terms, no amount of money can adequately compensate for the loss of a life”, said two of Tamir’s lawyers, Earl Ward and Jonathan Abady of Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady LLP in a statement.
This lawsuit was filed not long after a Cleveland police officer fatally shot Tamir, who was playing with a toy gun in a park when authorities were called to the scene.
Tamir was carrying a plastic airsoft gun that shoots nonlethal plastic pellets.
The Rice family had alleged in its wrongful death lawsuit that the police officers and dispatchers were reckless in their confrontation with Tamir.
As Cleveland.com reports, the settlement between the Rice family and Cleveland means that neither party really wanted to get into open court and sling some weighty accusations and incriminations against one another. The other was over the death of an asthmatic man following a police chase on foot.
The shooting incident lasted just two seconds, and Tamir’s family said the video footage showed the police had acted too quickly.
“Loomis has used Tamir’s shooting to show that police often can not tell the difference between real and replica firearms”, Cleveland.com wrote, and in his latest statement, Loomis seems to be doubling down on the insinuation that Rice is somehow to blame for being killed.
NAACP President Michael Nelson issued a statement saying “This is the first step toward Justice for the Rice family”.
The complaint said the city had a pattern of hiring police officers who are “unfit” for duty, and failed to vet or supervise them properly. The final step, before money can start going out to the parties involved is the settlement will need to be officially accepted by the Cuyahoga County Probate court, but at this point that seems to be a formality rather than a bump in the road. “Nothing will bring Tamir back”, they added in a statement.
Mayor Frank Jackson has scheduled a 2 p.m. news conference to discuss the settlement.
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The Rice family agreed in March to enter settlement talks with Cleveland. A dispatch officer reportedly received a call about someone waving a “probably fake” gun at passers-by. The US Department of Justice is still reviewing the case to see if any civil rights were violated, although these reviews seldom result in criminal charges.
