SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) – The state of Georgia has agreed to pay a $4.8 million legal settlement to the family of a Black man who was fatally shot by a state trooper trying to pull him over for a broken tail light.
The office of Georgia’s attorney general confirmed the hefty settlement amount Friday.
The trooper who killed Julian Lewis was swiftly fired by the Georgia State Patrol and charged with murder following the 2020 killing. But the prosecution of the former trooper, Jacob Thompson, stalled last summer when a grand jury in rural Screven County declined to indict him.
Atlanta attorney Andrew Lampros said state officials agreed to mediate a settlement to avoid a civil lawsuit over 60-year-old Lewis’ death. He said the slain man’s wife, Betty Lewis, remains “hopeful but frustrated” that Thompson will eventually stand trial, either in state or federal court.
“This is a classic case of driving while Black,” Lampros said. “That is all that Mr. Lewis, I believe, was guilty of.”