Baltimore plans to pay Freddie Gray's family $6.4 million as a settlement for civil claims in his arrest and death — an extraordinary payment in a lawsuit against city police, reports the Baltimore Sun.
The settlement — which is expected to be approved at Wednesday's meeting of the city's spending panel — will be paid out over two years, according to the mayor's office. The five-member board is controlled by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.
The payment is larger than the total of more than 120 other lawsuits brought against the police department for alleged brutality and misconduct since 2011.
Gray, 25, died in April after sustaining a severe spinal cord injury in police custody. In the hours after his funeral, the city erupted into rioting, arson and looting. The National Guard was called in to help restore order, and a citywide curfew was put in place.
Six officers who were part of Gray's arrest and transport in a police van have been charged with crimes ranging from murder to assault; all have pleaded not guilty. A pre-trial motions hearing is scheduled Thursday for a judge to decide whether to move the cases out of Baltimore; defense attorneys say the officers cannot get a fair trial here because of the intense publicity surrounding the case.
The claim was brought by Gray's estate, including Freddie Carlos Gray Sr. and Gloria Darden, against the city police department.
The city is accepting all civil liability in Gray's arrest and death, but does not acknowledge any wrongdoing by the police, according to a statement from Rawlings-Blake's administration.
