$2.5M Settlement in Alton Sterling Wrongful Death Lawsuit
Just weeks after the East Baton Rouge Metro Council rejected a $5 million settlement with the family of Alton Sterling, lawyers for the city-parish are now offering to settle the wrongful death lawsuit for $2.5 million, The Advocate has learned.
The offer was made this week after it was approved by a committee within the Parish Attorney’s Office, according to sources with knowledge of the discussions. They required anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case publicly.
The settlement still would need the approval of a majority of the Metro Council and is likely to come up for discussion at its Dec. 9 meeting.
Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old Black man, was shot and killed by a White Baton Rouge police officer outside a convenience store in the early morning hours of July 5, 2016. The civil suit, filed in 2017, alleges that the deadly encounter exemplified longstanding problems of racist attitudes and excessive force among Baton Rouge police officers.
