The city of Boston will pay about $4.6 million to settle a wrongful-death lawsuit stemming from the police killing of a mentally ill man in 2016.
The mother of Terrence Coleman, 31, filed the federal lawsuit six years ago. Hope Coleman called an ambulance to take her son to the hospital when Boston police shot him.
Terrence Coleman is a Black man diagnosed with schizophrenia. His mother filed the lawsuit with the goal of changing the way first responders deal with people with mental illness.
“No mother should have to witness her child killed at the hands of the police and fight, the way I’ve had to fight now for years, to get accountability,” said Hope Coleman in a statement. “Nothing can bring Terrence back, but now at least a measure of justice has been served.”
Boston city officials said in a statement Tuesday that the city will pay about $3.4 million to Coleman’s mother and estate, along with an additional $1.2 million to cover legal costs under the terms of the settlement. The city said in a statement that it “acknowledges that procedural failures within the litigation process delayed the resolution of this matter.”
The statement also said the resolution “does not include an admission of liability” by the city and that the city is “investing in alternative response programs for people experiencing mental health episodes, and we are determined to ensure continued support for mental health in our neighborhoods.”
Attorneys for Hope Coleman said a judge dismissed the lawsuit Monday.
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