A few days following reports stating that the family of Tamir Rice neglected to pay an outstanding ambulance bill, the mayor of Cleveland is apologizing.
Washington Post reports that officials have withdrawn the request against the RIce estate to pay the $500 invoice.
Cleveland Officials Demand Family of Tamir Rice Pay Overdue Ambulance Bills
Mayor Frank Jackson addressed reporters at a news conference on Thursday stating that he wasn’t notified that the bill would be sent to the family.
“It was mistake in terms of us not flagging it, but it was not a mistake in terms of the legal process,” he said.
Documents from the Cuyahoga County Probate Court state that an invoice was delivered to the family for “emergency medical services rendered as the decedent’s last dying expense.”
Rice was shot and killed in November 2014 while playing with a toy gun at a public park.
A bystander called police stating that a boy was waving a “probably fake” gun around. The dispatcher failed to relay the disclosed description of the gun or Rice’s age to the responding officers resulting in Officer Timothy Loehmann opened fire and fatally wounded the 12-year-old.
In December, a grand jury failed to indict either Loehmann or his partner for any of their actions involved in the shooting.