Samaria Rice, the mother of 12-year old Tamir Rice, who was shot death by police in 2014, will receive $6 million from Cleveland. The police shot Tamir for holding a plastic-pellet gun, leading to disputes across the city over his death. The litigation was resolved on Monday when the judge ordered a compulsory payout of $6 million to the victim's family.
However, the settlement still seeks additional endorsement from the probate court. The death of the African-American boy prompted activists across the nation to demand reform in the use of power by the city police. In March, Timothy McGinty, a Cuyahoga County prosecutor, was removed from his post for handling the Rice lawsuit. The payment is part of expensive settlements being made by cities with regards to wrongdoing cases and shootings by the police department.
According to a Wall Street Journal analysis, the payout by 10 major cities with the biggest police force totalled $1.02 billion throughout the period from 2010 to 2014. In connection with the Rice lawsuit, the police department said that officers reacted to a report of someone carrying what was misunderstood to be a real pistol. When the police arrived, the boy extended his waistband to point out that his plastic-pellet gun missed an orange tip to indicate that it was not an actual rifle.
Tamir was playing in a park when a white police officer shot him to death. A grand judge denied bringing allegations against the officer. The incident turned to a central point for the "Black Lives Matter" measure. The court verdict noted that half of the settlement payout will be made in 2016 while the rest is to be settled in 2017, BBC reported.
The estate of Tamir Rice has been promised with a settlement amount of $5.5 million, with Samaria receiving $250,000 and $250,000 going to an inheritor listed as TR. A video footage showed a police officer firing his service gun twice at the boy. Tamir died the following day. Police defended that the plastic gun appeared real and that they had warned Tamir to lift his hands three times. Meanwhile, the family of Tamir claimed that the shooting happened within two seconds from the arrival of the police to the spot.
According to WKYC, Cleveland's police patrolmen's association has intended to work along with Tamir's family to instruct children on the threats involving the use of toy pistols. The statement follows the court order settling Tamir's family with a payout of $6 million. Steve Loomis, president of Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association, said in a letter, "We can only hope the Rice family and their attorneys will use a portion of this settlement to help educate the youth of Cleveland in the dangers associated with the mishandling of both real and facsimile firearms."
The city has not yet decided on the type of disciplined measures to be taken on the accused officer. But the mayor, Frank Jackson, stated that a resolution will be made by the end of 2016. The death of Tamir has motivated activists to demand reforms in policing.
