The family of 30-year-old Gregory Hill, who was shot dead by a US sheriff’s deputy have been awarded $4 in damages following a wrongful death lawsuit.
Deputy Christopher Newman killed Gregory Hill Jr. on January 14, 2014, after a mother picking up her child at a school across the street called in a noise complaint. Newman and another deputy responded to Hill’s home, Hill partially opened the garage door, closed it and Newman fired four times, hitting Hill three times, including once in the head, according to police records.
Hill was found with an unloaded gun, but whether he was holding it is disputed.
Hill’s mother, Viola Bryant, filed a lawsuit against Newman and Sheriff Ken Mascara, alleging wrongful death, negligence, excessive force and violations of Hill’s 14th and 15th Amendment rights.
After deliberation, the jury ruled that no excessive force was used and Gregory Hill was responsible for his own death because he was drunk. They awarded $1 to his mother for funeral costs and $1 to each of his three children.
Speaking to the media, Attorney John Phillips, who represents Hill’s family, stated “That a black child’s pain is only worth a dollar is exactly the problem with the plight of the African-American right now. This says black lives don’t matter.”
Phillips plans to file a motion for a new trial in US District Court, and if that’s denied, he will take it to the US 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.