$6.4 million wrongful death settlement reached with family of Freddie Gray ( photo supplied by family)
The city of Baltimore has reached a tentative $6.4 million wrongful death settlement with the family of Freddie Gray, the 25 year-old man who died while in police custody in April from a spine injury.
The settlement still needs the approval the city’s Board of Estimates, the governing body that oversees city spending. That board, which includes Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, meets on Wednesday.
“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 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 and potentially cost taxpayers many millions more in damages.”
The announcement comes a week after a judge ordered that the six Baltimore officers indicted for the death of Gray were to be tried separately. The six police officers were indicted on various charges, ranging from second-degree depraved heart murder to false imprisonment.
The trial is scheduled to begin in October.
