USA

Baltimore to Pay Family of Freddie Gray $6.4 Million

FILE - The Gyalwang Drukpa, bottom center, the Buddhist leader of South Asia, prays in front of a mural depicting Freddie Gray alongside the Rev. Jamal Bryant during a walking tour with other faith and community leaders, Thursday, May 7, 2015.

The city of Baltimore will pay a $6.4 million wrongful death settlement to the family of Freddie Gray, the African American man who died in April after being critically injured while in police custody.

In a statement, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake says the proposed settlement would "resolve all civil claims related to the City of Baltimore, the Baltimore Police Department, individual officers, and any other persons or institutions who might be deemed responsible for the death of Gray."

She said it "should not be interpreted as a judgment on the guilt or innocence of the officers facing trial."

The settlement is expected to be approved Wednesday at a meeting of the city's spending panel.

Gray, 25, was arrested on April 12. He died in a hospital a week later of the spinal cord injury he suffered while handcuffed and restrained inside a police vehicle.

Prosecutors say Gray was unlawfully detained and have disputed police accounts about a knife he was carrying.

His death brought to boil long-simmering tensions between Baltimore police and poor neighborhoods in the largely black city, culminating in rioting and looting that left hundreds of businesses damaged and resulted in a city-wide curfew.

The six officers responsible for his arrest and transport — three white and three black, including one woman — are facing charges that include second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and manslaughter. One of the six, the driver of the police van where Gray's injuries took place, faces an additional charge of second-degree murder.

Some information is from AP.