Nearly three years after the fatal police shooting of Michael “Mike” Brown, the city has reached a settlement with his parents.
According to The Associated Press, a federal judge has approved the settlement in the wrongful-death lawsuit filed by Michael Brown Sr. and his ex-wife, Lezley McSpadden.
Brown was fatally shot on August 9, 2014 by Ferguson police officer, Darren Wilson. Despite several witnesses who stated that Brown had his hands up in an attempt to surrender to the officer, a grand jury decided not to indict Wilson.
The parents of the slain 18-year-old, who sued the city back in May of 2015, allege in their lawsuit that Wilson was unreasonably aggressive when he stopped Brown and used excessive force while violating his civil rights.
The suit also claimed that the city’s law enforcement practices “contributed to police officers” devaluation of African American life in the city of Ferguson” and said the police department had a “historical racial bias and hostility” to Black citizens.
As The New York Times reports, Judge E. Richard Webber of the Eastern District of Missouri sealed the details of the settlement, which also named the city of Ferguson and the former police chief, Thomas Jackson.
The news publication also notes the settlement amount would be less than $3 million, according to a person familiar with the details of the case, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because no one is allowed to speak about the particulars of the case. Three million dollars is the most the city can pay under its insurance, according to The St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
While August will mark three years since his passing, Brown’s story is set to be portrayed in an upcoming Warner Bros. film as well as a documentary, which will reveal unseen footage from the case.
