Parents Of Unarmed Teen Shot By Police Absolve City Of Pasadena In $1M Settlement
PASADENA (CBSLA.com) — Pasadena will pay more than $1 million to the parents of an unarmed teenager fatally shot by police after a false 911 call of an armed robbery.
Kendrec McDade, 19, was shot eight times by Pasadena police officers Mathew Griffin and Jeffrey Newlen in March 2012. The caller, Oscar Carrillo-Gonzalez, later admitted he told a dispatcher the men who had stolen a backpack out of his car were armed so that officers would respond faster.
Prosecutors tell KCAL9 that McDade's mother, Anya Slaughter, received $850,000 and his father, Kenneth McDade, received $187,000 in the settlement, which brings to a close their federal wrongful-death and civil-rights lawsuits filed against the city. The settlement also absolves the city and police of any fault or liability.
The agreement was announced last week on the eve of trial in Los Angeles federal court, but the dollar amounts were not revealed until Monday.
It also comes 18 months after the L.A. County District Attorney's Office concluded officers Newlen and Griffin acted in lawful self-defense and in defense of others.
Police said that the officers were acting on that information when they shot McDade while he was seen running from the scene and reaching for his waistband in a manner consistent with holding a firearm.
Court documents obtained by City News Service show Carrillo-Gonzalez was later convicted of making a false report and sentenced last year to 180 days split between jail and a Caltrans work crew.
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