St. Anthony, Diamond Reynolds Reach $675K Settlement
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Nearly a year and a half after the shooting of Philando Castile, the City of St. Anthony has reached a settlement with Diamond Reynolds.
In a closed-door, private meeting, all four members of the St. Anthony City Council voted unanimously in favor of awarding Reynolds $675,000.
She will also receive $125,000 from the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust on behalf of the City of Roseville, because Reynolds alleged distress from being detained by their officers after the shooting.
St. Anthony officials said Reynolds served a complaint in Ramsey County seeking monetary damages and other relief from the shooting. The city and Reynolds met earlier this month and agreed on a number.
She still could have brought a lawsuit against the city or current and former employees, but his settlement quashes possibility of future litigation by Reynolds against St. Anthony, or other cities or parties involved.
Reynolds was in the car with her 4-year-old daughter in July of 2016 when a police officer shot and killed Castile, who was her boyfriend. This past June, that officer, Jeronimo Yanez, was found not guilty of manslaughter and endangerment charges. He is no longer employed by St. Anthony Police.
She became a name known around the world that July day. Shortly after her boyfriend was shot, she went to Facebook Live and shared on the internet what happened.
Reynolds released this statement Tuesday night:
The settlement symbolizes that what happened to my daughter and I on July 6, 2016 was wrong. While no amount of money can change what happened, bring Philando back, or erase the pain that my daughter and I continue to suffer. I do hope that closing this chapter will allow us to get our lives back and move forward.
City leaders said they hope this settlement will bring healing and closure.
"If we don't approve this and we go ahead with litigation, it would just reopen the whole case again and bring heartache to everyone involved," said Mayor Jerry Faust. "It is best to settle, and this will resolve all civil litigation stemming from the incident on July 6, 2016, and it opens the door to continued healing within our community."
This past June, Castile's family reached a settlement of nearly $3 million with the city of St. Anthony, which came from insurance money.
