The city of Stockton, California, has agreed to settle a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Shayne Sutherland, a 29-year-old who died after being held face down by police officers in 2020, for $6m, the family’s attorneys announced Thursday.
Sutherland’s mother, Karen Sutherland, said that nothing can replace her son, but that the settlement feels like an acknowledgement of responsibility from Stockton police, which she had been hoping for.
“It shows that they’re taking responsibility for their police officers causing the wrongful death of my son,” she said.
The Stockton police department did not respond to requests for comment about the settlement, and would not discuss the case for an earlier story reported by the California Newsroom and the California Reporting Project.