Baltimore to pay family of Freddie Gray $6.4M


The city of Baltimore has reached a $6.4 million settlement in a lawsuit filed by the family of Freddie Gray, the 25-year-old man black man who died in April after suffering a neck injury while in police custody.

The settlement goes to the city's spending oversight board Wednesday for formal approval, the mayor's office said.

Gray's death triggered widespread protests, accompanied by looting and arson in Baltimore, and prompted a national outcry. It ultimately led to the firing of Police Commissioner Anthony Batts.

"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," Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said in a 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."

The mayor's office said the city would pay $2.8 million to Gray's family in the fiscal year that began July 1, with the balance being paid in the following fiscal year.

Last week a judge ruled that the six police officers charged in connection with Gray's death can be tried separately. The six officers have pleaded not guilty to charges ranging from false imprisonment to involuntary manslaughter. Gray died of a severe neck injury after being handcuffed and restrained inside a police vehicle April 12.

Gray, arrested after a foot chase by police officers, suffered a severe spinal injury and died a week later. Police said they chased Gray after he and another man spotted officers and suddenly started running away. Gray's death followed a line of incidents involving black men or teens dying at the hands of police, and the incident sparked protests throughout Baltimore and across the nation.

crime does pay.

lol, yeah, death is a nice payment for the 'crime' of having a knife,,,

Well I appreciate the City of Baltimore wants to avoid costly litigation and just pay the family off to make the problem go away.

Cities and companies have this conversation every day. They could fight the case, spend twice as much to do it, and be exonerated and not have to pay the family anything. But, since the almighty dollar is driving the conversation, who needs the truth, right?

The case against the cops does not look good for them. We have already seen most of the case laid out in press conferences or on CNN specials. What will likely be the revelation in court of what happened in the police van will be the GPS records.

To prevent lawsuits for police brutality, police departments long ago instituted procedures for transporting suspects based on location, distance to the station, route to be travelled, and ETA. This prevents cops from taking you down to the wharf and slapping you silly for 15-20 minutes before bringing you in. Cops can still do that, they just don't arrest you first, and so a radio call is not required for your transport. Just sayin'. lol

Anyway, in the case of the van however, we know there is likely a GPS record of the trip based on time and location. As the time stamp for each waypoint is logged, we know the speed of the vehicle. So if someone raced up to 60 mph say, and then slammed on the brakes to throw you around in back, it would be recorded.

If no such 'rough ride' record exists, then we know the issue comes down to Mr. Gray being injured fatally either at the scene, or injured upon his delivery to the station. In either case, some of these cops may have played no role in his death.

We of course have other troubling factors such as allegedly not providing medical assistance along the way. We don't know if the cops thought he was faking it, or if they engaged in sadistic behavior causing Mr. Gray pain and suffering. If the cops essentially tortured him, then I say the family didn't get enough.

At the end of the day, with so much left to find out, maybe the payment was premature.

live by the sword.....

So large and quick of payment by the City of Baltimore...hmmm.
Wonder who else cashed in on his death? Surely, no city corruption there but watch for the mayor to be driving a new car soon.
Sure wasn't the policemen they threw under the passing bus.

yeah, but he wasnt killed with a switchblade nor had he used it to hurt anyone,,,,so the philosophy doesnt really apply here,,

"Enjoy your ride, we sure will!"

There have been lots of articles & radio talk shows on how this family profited from his death.

I look forward to hearing how they lost it all, or ended up in deeper debt.
* Like most people who get large sums of money & can't handle it *

Then they can go on morning talk shows... with a free trip to New York & complain about that.

anyone with insurance may manage to 'profit' from the death of a loved one,,,

I wish them the best and hope they can use the resources to help others,,,

when I saw that vid of those officers taking Garner down and not listening to him... saying he could not breath ... then later died ... was a terrible way to died and the police should not have done the choke hold ... I hope his family wins a possible suit against those officers in that district ... a man died from selling a fifty cent cigarette ... that can not be justified ... and is seriously wrong ...

Absurd!

Ok, live by the switchblade, die by the van.

I am not talking about insurance & you know it...

" I am in mourning... over the criminal I raised & set loose upon society, that I was so proud of...ya'll want to buy a T-shirt? "

He didn't die over a cigarette. Please remove all your TV's.

so, parents should feel their children are dispensable when they brak rules or laws?


interesting point of view,,,

So as I suspected, the money being paid out is not really out of contrition for city employees murdering someone, it's so they don't have to pay more later.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings Blake announced the settlement as the best deal for taxpayers, and to protect them from an unfavorable jury verdict in the criminal trial, and to bring a sense of 'closure' to the community.

In other words, you rioters out there? The family got their pound of flesh from the city. The system is handling the cops who killed Mr. Gray, so you have no reason for further riots.

I guess she sees the writing on the wall for the cops, and wanted to avoid a civil suit where maybe the city pays $20 million.

Although you have to wonder. Since she hints at the community being placated via 'closure' with this deal, did she just blink and pay a form of protection money to the unruly mob?

The going price now for avoiding a riot is $6.4 million?

Wonder how long itll take before Sharpton is knocking on the familiy's door wanting his cut....

That's a total shame.

His life, his earning potential, was nowhere near 6.4 mil.


Oh well... His family will be broke again within a year.

life is priceless because its irreplacable

they got off light

Parents should feel responsible when they let them run the streets and break the law.