Updated 5:19 p.m.
The city of Sacramento will pay $2.4 million to the two children of Stephon Clark as part of a settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit filed earlier this year, according to federal court documents filed on Wednesday.
A declaration by one of the Clark family’s attorneys indicates that a confidential settlement was agreed to in May and would give Clark’s two young children $893,000 each after attorney’s fees.
The Clark family had initially sought $20 million in damages.
In a written statement, Sacramento City Attorney Susana Alcala Wood described the suit as a “complex case,” adding that the officers' use of force was found lawful by Sacramento County District Attorney Anne-Marie Schubert and the state attorney general. Both declined to press charges against the officers in March of this year.
She said that the settlement was in the “best interest of our community,” and that resources will be available for the care and education of Clark’s children.
Two police officers — named in the suit as Terrance Mercadal and Jared Robinet — fatally shot Clark on the night of March 18, 2018, after law enforcement had responded to a complaint of a man breaking car windows.
The officers pursued Clark into a backyard, which they later learned was his grandmother’s home, and fired at Clark 20 times. They thought he had a gun in his hand, but only discovered a cell phone near his body.
Read the settlement:
Follow us for more stories like this
CapRadio provides a trusted source of news because of you. As a nonprofit organization, donations from people like you sustain the journalism that allows us to discover stories that are important to our audience. If you believe in what we do and support our mission, please donate today.
Donate Today
