Milwaukee to weigh $4M settlement to Sylville Smith estate
MILWAUKEE - According to city documents, the City of Milwaukee has agreed in principle -- pending Common Council approval -- to pay a $4 million settlement to the Estate of Sylville Smith, the man shot and killed by a Milwaukee police officer in 2016.
An assistant city attorney wrote in a letter to Council members on Oct. 12 that the plaintiffs in the lawsuit have agreed to the $4 million proposal. The proposal will go before the Council's Judiciary & Legislation Committee on Monday, Oct. 26. It would ultimately need to be approved by the Common Council.
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Sylville Smith
The assistant city attorney wrote that the proposed settlement comes on the advice of a mediator, who was brought in after an unsuccessful movement for summary judgement on the basis of qualified immunity. The $4 million total would be to settle the case, including attorneys' fees and costs.
Officer Dominique Heaggan-Brown shot and killed Smith on Aug. 13, 2016 after a brief foot pursuit. Smith initially had a gun, but was unarmed at the time Heaggan-Brown fired a second, fatal shot 1.69 seconds after the first.
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Dominique Heaggan-Brown
The incident sparked two nights of violent protests and riots in the Sherman Park neighborhood. Rioters torched several businesses.
Heaggan-Brown had been charged with reckless homicide, but was acquitted by a jury in 2017.
Though acquitted in the shooting, Heaggan-Brown was later fired, charged with sex crimes in 2018.
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