After a spirited debate, a divided City Council agreed Wednesday to spend $1 million to compensate the family of an armed, 26-year-old man shot and killed by police in 2019.
“The sin of the police officer was he turned the body camera off a little too soon. . We should not be paying this family a million dollars,” said Ald. Nick Sposato. But Ald. Chris Taliaferro disagreed: “Either we trust our lawyers or we don’t.”
In January, opposition from police union allies on the City Council allies forced then-Finance Committee Chair Scott Waguespack to yank the $1 million settlement to the mother of Sharrell Brown off the agenda. But Wednesday, it passed with little or no debate.
The settlement advanced Monday would go to Alice Martin, mother of 17-year-old Michael Elam Jr., fatally shot in his back after he ran away following a 2019 traffic stop.