A South Carolina city sanctioned a settlement Thursday worth $6.5 million with the family of Walter Scott, an unarmed black man who was shot to death by Michael Slager, a white police officer.
After meeting numerous times these past few months to get advice from a city attorney regarding a possible lawsuit from the Scott family, the settlement was agreed upon by the North Charleston City Council by a 10-0 vote with several members of the family present, according to the Associated Press.
Slager, 33, was arrested for shooting Scott, 50, several times in the back as he fled from the scene where the officer had pulled him over on April 4. The entire incident was caught on tape, as HNGN previously reported.
Before the footage, which was taken by a bystander who witnessed the entire incident, was released to the authorities, Slager had claimed that Scott took his gun and taser and that he feared for his life, according to The New York Times.
Instead of the death penalty, Slager will potentially face a 30-year prison sentence if he's proven guilty, as there were no aggravating circumstances like robbery or kidnapping, which can be used to apply the capital punishment to the incident, a local prosecutor had said.
