Washington | The family of an African-American killed by a police officer while in handcuffs will receive $ 20 million in compensation under an agreement with authorities, the family’s lawyer said on Monday.
William Murphy hailed a “historic deal” with Prince George County (Maryland), near Washington, one of the highest for a police blunder in the United States.
William Green, 43, was shot six times on January 27 while in a police car with his hands cuffed behind his back. He died the day after his injuries in hospital.
He had been arrested by a police officer, Michael Owen, for a traffic accident. The agent had explained to have fired in self-defense at William Green while he was trying to take his weapon.
Michael Owen, who was not wearing a pedestrian camera during the incident, has since been fired from police and charged with manslaughter.
“This is a historic agreement that reflects the hateful, brutal and senseless nature of what happened to Mr. Green,” William Murphy commented at a press conference.
The lawyer notably lambasted the lack of responsiveness of the county police when the police officer, also African-American, had been the subject of two reports for violence a few months earlier, according to an investigation by the Washington post.
“There is a terrible trend of senseless violence, things in his past that were terrifying,” he said.
Prince George County Director Angela Alsbrooks has “accepted responsibility” for William Green’s death.
“When we are at fault, we take responsibility,” she said.
The deal comes two weeks after the agreement between Louisville, Kentucky, town hall and the family of Breonna Taylor, a young African-American girl killed in a controversial search in March, which received $ 12 million in compensation.
William Murphy had previously negotiated a $ 6.4 million deal between the city of Baltimore and the family of Freddie Gray, a young African American who died in troubling circumstances after his arrest in 2015.