City of Cleveland to Pay Tamir Rice’s Estate $6 Million

By Kenrya Rankin Apr 25, 2016

More than a year after Cleveland police officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmbeck killed Black 12-year-old Tamir Rice for playing with a toy gun, the city has reached an agreement in a federal wrongful death lawsuit. The settlement was mediated via the Eastern Division of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. The details are as follows:

  • $6 million payment from the city: $5.5 million to Rice’s estate; $250,000 to his mother, Samaria Rice; $250,000 to his sister, Tajai Rice
     
  • No admission of wrongdoing by the city, the officers or the dispatchers

Cleveland.com reports that the settlement must still be approved by a Cuyahoga County Probate Court judge.

A grand jury opted not to indict the officers last December. The U.S. Department of Justice is still reviewing the November 22, 2014, shooting for civil rights violations.

The Rice family’s attorneys issued a statement about the settlement: “In a situation like this, there’s no such thing as closure or justice. Nothing will bring Tamir back. His unnecessary and premature death leaves a gaping hole for those who knew and loved him that can never be filled.”