According to ABC News, a settlement has been reached in a wrongful death lawsuit over the shooting death of an unarmed man by a Bay Area Rapid Transit officer. BART has agreed to pay $1.3 million to Wanda Johnson, the mother of Oscar Grant, a man shot by an officer. Johnson said that no money in the world could replace her son Oscar.
Last year, the transit agency paid $1.5 million to the mother of Grant’s daughter and that family’s wrongful death and civil rights lawsuit has now been resolved. Former transit officer Johannes Mehserle was released from jail this month after he was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for fatally shooting Grant on New Year’s Day in 2009.
The shooting was recorded by bystanders and within hours the videos went vitals, showing Nehserle firing a bullet into the back of Grant as he lay face down after being pulled off a train, supposedly for fighting with passengers. On the stand, the former police officer said he meant to taser Grant but mistakenly fired his pistol into Grant’s back. The settlement with Johnson included no admission of fault by BART or any officers involved.
Wooten Kimbrough, P.A. – Orlando personal injury lawyers