ABC NEWS SCREENSHOT
The civil court portion of the case involving the fatal police shooting of Walter Scott moves forward. Scott’s family filed documents asking a judge to approve its wrongful death settlement with North Charleston, S.C., CBS News reports.
City officials agreed in October to settle the case for $6.5 million. Back in April, Officer Michael Slager, who now faces murder charges, was caught on video gunning down an unarmed Scott as he ran away. North Charleston plans to pay $5.5 million of the settlement from a city fund that contains $18 million. The state Insurance Reserve Fund will pay the remaining $1 million of the settlement amount.
The court documents offer the first glimpse into the proposed payout plan. It includes annuities totaling $1 million to three of Scott’s four children. Scott’s estate would receive $3 million, and $17,000 would go toward back child support payments. The law firms representing Scott’s family would share $2.4 million.
The settlement amount is comparable to agreements reached in other civil cases involving the police and the deaths of unarmed black men: New York City settled the Eric Garner case for $5.9 million, and Baltimore reached a $6.4 million settlement with Freddie Gray’s family.
CBS said there’s no indication as to when a judge will review the Scott family’s request to approve its settlement.
Read more at CBS News.