The death of Stephon Clark made headline news when the unarmed Black man was fatally gunned down by two members of the Sacramento Police Department in his grandparents’ backyard in March of 2018. The officers thought Clark had a gun in his hand, but it turned out to be a cellphone.
Now, his children have been awarded a $2.4 million settlement from the City of Sacramento as a result of his wrongful death.
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Clark’s sons are aged 2 and 5 years old and the money will go into a trust for them until they turn 22 and 25 years old. Attorneys will receive a quarter of the funds for expenses, according to The LATimes.
“This is a complex case that, at its core, involves a lawful use of force by Sacramento Police Department officers,” City Atty. Susana Alcala Wood said in a statement to the Bee.
“In this case, the city of Sacramento has determined that this partial resolution of the lawsuits filed on behalf of Mr. Clark’s family is in the best interest of our community.”
There is still a pending $20 million-dollar federal civil rights lawsuit filed by Clark’s grandparents, which has yet to be settled.
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In that particular pending suit, the names of the two officers who gunned Clark down in his grandparents’ backyard, are made public.
“Both Officers Terrence Mercadal and Jared Robinet did not give [Clark] a verbal warning that deadly force would be used prior to shooting [Clark] multiple times, despite it being feasible to do so and they did not issue appropriate commands to [Clark)],” reads the 31-page suit filed by attorneys Dale Galipo, Brian Panish and Benjamin Crump.
Wood said city officials are confident that awarding the Clark children “will mark another step in the ongoing healing of our community from a tragic event.”