DENVER – The Colorado city of Aurora will make sweeping police reforms and pay $2.6 million to relatives of an unarmed black man who was fatally shot by an officer.
City attorney Mike Hyman says the police department also agreed to policy changes as part of the settlement over the March 2015 death of 37-year-old Naeschylus Carter Vinzant. The settlement was reached ahead of a lawsuit.
A grand jury declined to indict officer Paul Jerothe.
It concluded he acted reasonably when he shot Vinzant once in the chest. Officers later discovered the victim was unarmed.
Vinzant was on parole for an assault conviction and had cut off his monitoring bracelet and fled after beating his wife and taking their 2-month-old son. Jerothe told investigators he shot Vinzant because he feared for his safety.
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This story has been corrected to show the settlement was reached ahead of a lawsuit.
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