Freddie Gray's Family Gets $6.4 Million Settlement from Baltimore City
Freddie Gray's family reached a $6.4 million settlement from the City of Baltimore for the wrongful death of Gray nearly five months ago.
The settlement of $6.4 million is just a tentative amount and needs to be approved by a board that oversees city spending and is scheduled to meet Wednesday morning, according to the Associated Press.
"The proposed settlement agreement going before the Board of Estimates should not be interpreted as a judgment on the guilt or innocence of the officers facing trial," Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said in a press statement.
"This settlement is being proposed solely because it is in the best interest of the city, and avoids costly and protracted litigation that would only make it more difficult for our city to heal and potentially cost taxpayers many millions more in damages," she added.
Gray, at 25 years old, was critically injured while in police custody. He suffered a spinal injury on April 12, while being handcuffed in the back of a prisoner transport van after his arrest. A week later, he died at the hospital, making him another national image of a black man killed in an act of alleged police brutality.
Meanwhile, Gene Ryan, president of the Baltimore City Fraternal Order of Police, called the settlement "ridiculous" and says the city's spending oversight board should reject the deal, USA Today reports.
Ryan also says that no deal should be made before completing the criminal case. Just last week, a judge ruled that the six officers involved in Gray's death could be tried separately.
"Just as Baltimore is returning to its pre-riot normalcy, this news threatens to interrupt any progress made toward restoring the relationship between the Baltimore Police Department and the Baltimore City government," Ryan said.
An autopsy report showed that Gray died of a "high-energy injury" that most likely happened when the police van came to an abrupt stop.
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