NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (AP) - New Bedford, Massachusetts, has agreed to pay $500,000 to the family of a 15-year-old fatally shot by police in 2012 but will not admit wrongdoing, officials said.
The city agreed to make a one-time payment to the sister of Malcolm Gracia. The settlement was approved Tuesday.
The city will make the payment using its insurance, but neither the city nor its police officers admitted to wrongdoing, according to a statement by city spokesman Jonathan Carvalho.
The city framed the settlement as an attempt to control costs of the case.
“It’s freeing, but at the same time I’m not done and I’ll continue to just proclaim my brother’s name and bring justice to his name,” said Malcolm’s sister Christina Gracia.
The city said the victim died after an encounter “in which he stabbed a New Bedford Police Detective with a hunting knife.” The statement reads that police first tried to subdue him with a stun gun but shot and killed him after he did not follow an order to drop his knife.
Christina Gracia’s lawyer, Donald Brisson, said at a news conference that the version officials put forth was a “false narrative.”
The settlement will give Malcolm’s family the ability to tell the truth about what happened that night, he said.
Douglas Louison, an attorney for the city, disputed Brisson’s claim, saying “the truth has been produced regularly” throughout the court proceedings.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.