Black lives matter: $4 for a black man's death

November 16, 2020

A Florida family was awarded $4 after deputy Christopher Newman killed Gregory Hill Jr through his garage door.

Christopher Newman killed Gregory Hill Jr., 30, in 2014. Newman and another deputy responded to Hill's home, Hill partially opened the garage door, closed it and Newman fired four times. he said Hill brandished a handgun. Hill's mother, Viola Bryant, filed a lawsuit against Newman and Sheriff Ken Mascara, alleging "wrongful death, negligence, excessive force and violations of Hill's 14th and 15th Amendment rights". A jury found that Newman was not liable in Hill's death and that Mascara was 1% liable. the jury awarded Bryant $1 for funeral expenses, and $1 for each child's "loss of parental companionship, instruction, and guidance and ... mental pain and suffering," verdict forms show. Hill's children are 7, 10 and 13. If Mascara found 100% liable, that would make $400 for Hill's life. The jury consisted of one black man, two white men and five white women.

Read the lawsuit

Thirty witnesses were called during the trial, some of whom contested Newman's narrative that he saw a gun. Newman fired four times in less than 1.2 seconds, an expert said the final shot to Hill's head would have immediately disabled his motor capabilities. How did Hill get the gun in his back pocket after he was shot? Attorney Phillips said he would be filing his motion for a new trial in the coming weeks. Source: CNN

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