Elijah McClain: Aurora, Colorado, must pay $15 million to his family to settle lawsuit
The multi-million dollar payment is the latest in a series of high-profile police misconduct settlements in which cities have paid out millions of dollars to surviving family members.
“No amount of money can change what happened or erase the pain and grief the family went through over his loss,” Aurora City Manager Jim Twombly said in a statement. a statement sent to CNN. “The settlement is an important step in moving forward with the city’s ‘New Road’ plan to restore community confidence in public safety, while avoiding a lengthy legal process that cannot be restored.” serve the best interests of the city or family.”
Aurora will pay out $5 million from the city’s general fund, while another $10 million will be covered by the city’s excess liability insurance policy. Aurora City Council approved the $15 million at a meeting in July.
Last month, her attorneys announced the case was settled in principle, settling all claims in the federal civil rights case.
Sheneen McClain’s attorneys confirmed the $15 million figure to CNN and released a statement: “No amount of money will ever bring Elijah back to his mother. Ms. McClain will return every penny to her son. just one more day. There will be an Allocation Hearing in the near future to determine the division of the settlement between Ms. McClain, who raised Elijah as a single father, and the biological father.”
“Hopefully this sends a message to police everywhere that there will be consequences for their actions,” LaWayne Mosley, Elijah’s father, said in a statement. “I hope Elijah’s legacy is that the police will think twice before killing another innocent person.”
Spurred by protests in Aurora and a petition going viral online, Governor Jared Polis announced a re-investigation of the incident last year. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser was appointed special counsel and opened a grand jury investigation into the case in January.
Earlier this week, the city and state of Colorado reached an agreement on the terms of a consent decree to address the problems of the Aurora Police Department and Aurora Fire Rescue identified in a report “The Models and Practices” September.
The Consent Decree covers four areas identified in the Attorney General’s report: Racism Policy, Use of Force, Stop Document, and Ketamine and Other Chemical Prohibitions .
