Pictures of Eric Garner, Freddie Gray and Nizah Morris are seen while people take part in the Million People’s March Against Police Brutality, Racial Injustice and Economic Inequality in Newark, New Jersey in this July 25, 2015, file photo. Baltimore officials have reached a tentative $6.4mn wrongful death settlement with the family of Freddie Gray, an unarmed black man who died in April from an injury sustained in police custody.

Reuters/Washington

Baltimore has reached a tentative $6.4mn settlement with the family of Freddie Gray, a black man who died from an injury sustained in police custody, city officials said yesterday.
The settlement with his family will be submitted to the Baltimore Board of Estimates for a vote today, the office of Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said in a statement, adding that it does not constitute an admission of liability.
It will have no effect on the criminal trials of six officers charged with Gray’s death in April, the statement said. His death from a spinal injury following arrest sparked protests and rioting, and fueled a US debate on police treatment of minorities.
“The proposed settlement agreement going before the Board of Estimates should not be interpreted as a judgment on the guilt or innocence of the officers facing trial,” Rawlings-Blake said, adding that it would resolve related civil claims against Baltimore and avoid drawn-out litigation.
Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Barry Williams last week ordered individual trials for the officers charged in Gray’s death. The charges range from second-degree murder to assault and misconduct.
Tomorrow, Williams will hold a hearing to determine whether the trial should be moved from the largely black city of about 620,000 people because of the uproar over Gray’s death.
Officers arrested Gray, 25, on April 12 after a foot chase in crime-ridden West Baltimore. He was bundled into a transport van while in handcuffs and shackles and was not secured with a seatbelt.
Gray died a week later from a spinal injury and a medical examiner ruled the death a homicide. Three of the officers charged are white and three are black.
The city hall statement said Gray’s family would be paid $2.8mn in the current fiscal year and $3.6mn in the one starting July 1, 2016. The Board of Estimates controls city finances, and its five members include the mayor.
The payout would be the latest in a long line of settlements by Baltimore over allegations of police brutality. Since 2011, the city has paid a total of $5.7mn in police-related court judgments and settlements, according to the Baltimore Sun.