The Los Angeles city council approved a $1.5 million payment Wednesday to settle a lawsuit filed by the parents of Ezell Ford over his fatal shooting by police in South Los Angeles.
The settlement came just weeks after the District Attorney’s Office declined to press any charges against the officers who shot Ford, whose death has been a rallying cry for angry protests.
The District Attorney’s Justice System Integrity Division concluded in January that Los Angeles police Officers Sharlton Wampler and Antonio Villegas “acted lawfully in self-defense and in defense of others” when they shot Ford in 2014, although the Police Commission ruled in 2015 that one of them was justified in opening fire, but the other violated department policy. The commission did not specify which officer acted improperly.
The commission went against Chief Charlie Beck’s recommendation that both officers acted appropriately.
The City Council vote on the settlement was 10-2. The two council members who voted against the settlement — Mitchell Englander and Joe Buscaino — are reserve officers with the LAPD, City News Service reports.
