The family of a black man who was killed by a Maryland police officer while handcuffed in a patrol car has reached a momentous $20 million settlement for his death, county officials disclosed Monday.
William Howard Green of Washington D.C. was killed on January 27 by Police Cpl. Michael Owen Jr, a 10-year veteran of the police department involved in previous shooting incidents. Owen was arrested on multiple charges, including second-degree murder and is set for trial next year.
County Executive Angela Alsobrooks said "there's no price tag to accompany a loss like that one," adding that the "actions taken that night and ultimately taken against his (Williams') family warrant that settlement," Mail Online quoted her as saying.
Owen and another police officer found Green asleep in his car the night during an investigation by the officers into a traffic mishap in Silver Hill.
The officers, who mistook the 43-year old as a suspect in the traffic accidents, arrested and handcuffed him inside the police vehicle where he was shot six times by Owen.
Moments after the fatal shooting, police said they suspected Green was under the influence of drugs and that witnesses could testify that a scuffle took place inside the patrol car before he was killed. The following day, authorities recanted both allegations.
The $20 million legal settlement is believed to be one of the biggest one-time payment involving police brutality in the United States. According to Alsobrooks, it is their belief in Prince George County that "when we're at fault we take full accountability... we will not hide from it," Mail Online added.
Alsobrooks said that this was the first time in the history of Prince George County that a police officer was charged for murder while on duty.
The settlement echoes that of the Breonna Taylor's case, whose survivors agreed to a $12 million legal compensation with the Louisville, Kentucky police for the police shooting that claimed the life of the 26-year-old in her home on March 13.
