Cleveland to Tamir Rice estate: Kindly pay $500 ambulance bill
CLEVELAND - The city of Cleveland is asking Tamir Rice's estate to pay $500 for his ambulance ride and medical services he received after he was shot by a police officer.
The city requested the money as the boy's "last dying expense" in a creditor's claim filed Wednesday in Cuyahoga County Probate Court. The claim states the money is overdue.
A family attorney for the estate called the claim callous and insensitive, as the 12-year-old was killed by the city's own police officers.
Rice, who is black, was shot by a white police officer in November 2014 outside a recreation center. He had an airsoft pistol that police say resembled a real gun.
CBS Affiliate WOIO reports the attorney for Samaria Rice, Tamir's mother, released the following statement:
"The callousness, insensitivity, and poor judgment required for the city to send a bill -- its own police officers having slain 12-year-old Tamir -- is breathtaking. This adds insult to homicide."
The city's police union president says the claim is unconscionable.
A city spokesman declined comment citing ongoing litigation.