The sister of George Robinson, who died after police pulled him from his automotive, rejects a $17,000 settlement offer. dollars

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – A lady who sued Mississippi’s capital over her brother’s death has decided to reject the settlement after officials publicly disclosed how much town would pay survivors, her lawyer said Wednesday.

George Robinson, 62, died in January 2019, days after three Jackson police officers pulled him from his automotive while trying to find a murder suspect.

The Jackson City Council on Tuesday approved a $17,786 payment to settle a lawsuit filed by Robinson’s relatives in state court in October 2019, WLBT-TV reported. City documents show the settlement didn’t constitute an admission of liability by town or the three officers named within the lawsuit. Robinson was black, as were the three officers.

The payment to relatives – including Robinson’s sister, Bettersten Wade – was approved unanimously. Wade’s attorney, Dennis Sweet III, released a letter Wednesday saying town of Jackson violated a confidentiality agreement that was part of the settlement. Sweet said that because of the general public disclosure of information and since town “appears to claim a victory or infer some purported victory,” Wade intends to proceed suing town.

Sweet said Robinson’s family has reached a separate “significant settlement” with the ambulance company.

Councilor Kenneth Stokes said he thought the urban settlement was too small, although he voted for it.

“I say it just sends the wrong message about human lives, especially Black lives,” Stokes said. “I think a step in the right direction would be to pay the family a little more.”

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The lawsuit alleged that the three officers “brutally, viciously and mercilessly beat Mr. Robinson by punching and kicking him.”

“Mr. Robinson committed no crime, was not subject to any court order, and posed no threat to himself or anyone in the area,” the lawsuit stated.

Wade said Robinson had been hospitalized with a stroke a few days before the encounter with police and was taking medication. A couple of hours after the beating, he had a seizure, and two days later he died of bleeding within the brain.

The case was dropped with second-degree murder charges against two officers. In August 2022, a Hinds County jury convicted former Detective Anthony Fox of culpable homicide by negligence, after which in January of this yr, the Mississippi Court of Appeals overturned Fox’s conviction. The appeals court majority wrote that prosecutors didn’t prove that Fox “acted in a grossly negligent manner” or that Robinson’s death “was foreseeable under the circumstances.”

Wade is the mother of Dexter Wade, who was hit by an off-duty Jackson police officer in March 2023.

Dexter Wade was buried within the Hinds County Paupers Cemetery. However, it was not until October that his mother learned in regards to the burial.

His body was exhumed on November 13 and an independent autopsy was performed. The wallet present in his jeans pocket contained a state ID with a home address, a bank card and a medical health insurance card, said civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents Wade’s family.

On November 20, Dexter Wade’s family organized his funeral, and he was buried in a different cemetery.