-Angelot Ndongmo-
Cousins!
In this tragic case of WHWB (walking home while black), the city of Aurora, Colorado agreed to pay $15 million to settle a civil rights lawsuit filed against them, by the family of deceased Elijah McClain!
As we previously reported the melanated young man was killed by the police, and injected with ketamine while simply heading home from the store.
CNN reports $5 million of the payment is to be issued directly from Aurora and the balance will be taken care of by the excess liability insurance policy. The Aurora City Manager Jim Twombly told the media in a statement “No amount of money can change what happened or erase the pain and heartbreak experienced by the family over his loss. The settlement is an important step in moving forward with the city’s ‘New Way’ plan. To restore the community’s trust in public safety, while avoiding a protracted legal process that does not serve the best interests of the city or the family.”
McClain’s mom’s attorneys firmly established that the $15 million is set to be paid out to Sheneen McClain. In their issued statement “No amount of money will ever bring Elijah back to his mother. Ms. McClain would return every cent for just one more day with her son. There will be an allocation hearing in the near future to determine the distribution of the settlement between Ms. McClain, who raised Elijah as a single parent, and the biological father.”
The deceased’s father, LaWayne Mosley, shared how he felt about the unnecessary death caused by police, with a statement of his own “I hope Elijah’s legacy is that police will think twice before killing another innocent person.
August 2019 was when Elijah was stopped, placed in a carotid choke hold and injected with ketamine. What was likely intended to be an open-shut ‘nothing to see here’ case, turned into a full reexamination of events leading up to the killing of young Elijah. Thanks to the determined protesters, viral online petition and Gov. Jared Polis. Turns out, it was business as usual for Aurora’s finest aka police department. A peek into their history revealed an underwhelming, predictable truth; racially biased policing and excessive force and a failure of recording legally required information when interacting with the community.
Three police officers and two fire department paramedics, involved in McClain’s death. All were indicted back in September on charges of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide, which is a part of a 32-count indictment.
Black enterprise shared Sheneen’s attorney said “Ms. McClain would like to thank the community for its incredible support, love, and commitment to ensuring that Elijah’s death would lead to meaningful reform.”