Thursday, May 14, 2015

Update: The city of Charlotte has settled a lawsuit over the 2013 shooting death of Jonathan Ferrell (FAMU) for a record $2.25 million.



CHARLOTTE, North Carolina -- The city of Charlotte has called a 12:30 p.m. press conference, apparently to announce a $2.25 million settlement in the lawsuit the 2013 police shooting death of Jonathan Ferrell .

Ferrell was shot numerous times by Charlotte-Mecklenburg police Officer Randall Kerrick in September 2013. Ferrell was unarmed, and Kerrick is scheduled to go to trial on a voluntary manslaughter charge in July. The officer’s attorneys say the shooting was tragic but justified.

The press conference, which will take place in the lobby of the Government Center, will include Mayor Dan Clodfelter and City Attorney Bob Hagemann.

Kerrick is the first CMPD officer charged with an on-duty shooting in at least three decades. Ferrell’s family filed suit in January 2014 against Kerrick, CMPD, and city and county government. The civil trial in federal court had been scheduled to start in November.

The family stands to receive an amount that is three times higher than the $700,000 settlement the city reached in January 2014 with the family of of a cellphone tower repairman fatally shot on the job by police in 2006.

On Sept. 14, 2013, Kerrick shot Ferrell 10 times from close range during a nighttime encounter in a northeast Mecklenburg neighborhood. The officer had three years experience at the time.

Ferrell, 24, had wrecked his car, losing his cellphone in the process, and had knocked on the door of a nearby home in an apparent effort to get help. He was a former Florida A&M football player who had moved to Charlotte to be with his fiancée. That night he had given a co-worker a ride home.

CONTINUE READING

No comments: