Prince George's County in Maryland reached a $20 million settlement Monday with the family of William Howard Green, who was shot and killed in January while handcuffed inside an officer's vehicle, CNN reports.
"Prince George's County has reached a settlement agreement with the Green family for $20 million," County Executive Angela Alsobrooks said at a news conference. "To be clear, there is no price that you can put on the life of a son, a father and uncle, a brother. There is no appropriate price tag to accompany a loss like that. We believe that the actions taken that night against Mr. Green, and ultimately taken against his family, warrant this settlement."
Green, 43, was fatally shot by Prince George’s County Police Cpl. Michael Owen Jr., who was with another officer when they responded to a call about a car slamming into parked vehicles. The two suspected that Green was "under the influence of a substance," and called for a "drug recognition expert."
As they waited for the expert to arrive, Green was allowed to sit in the front seat of Owen's cruiser. Police Chief Hank Stawinski cited that department policy allows for an officer to seat people in the right front side as long as there is a partition, which was the case with Owen's car. Stawinski believes this arrangement gives a cop better control of their suspect.
From here, the details become murky with the police report only indicating some time later, "Green was shot seven times by the officer’s duty weapon." Green was pronounced dead when he arrived at the hospital.
Police initially stated that there were witnesses who saw a struggle between Owen and Green, but no evidence could back up their claim. Owen attempted to accuse Green of trying to grab his gun, but experts determined there was no possible way that could occur.
Since Owen wasn't wearing a body cam at the time of the incident, it's difficult to figure out how the situation inside his cruiser escalated to the point where the officer would feel justified in firing seven shots at a handcuffed Green.
"There is no reason why a handcuffed person should ever be shot multiple times by a police officer, let alone shot multiple times inside a patrol car," Deborah Jeon, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland, said in a statement in response to the shooting. "Anything short of that assessment would demonstrate complete lack of respect for human life."
Stawinski announced one day after the incident that Owen had been arrested and charged with murder, along with manslaughter and weapons charges. "I'm unable to come to our community this evening and provide you with a reasonable explanation for the events that occurred last night," he told reporters at the time. "I have concluded that what happened last night was a crime."
