Louisiana's state police and a local sheriff's office have agreed to pay $4.85 million to the daughter of Ronald Greene, a Black motorist who died after being shocked with a stun gun, punched, and dragged during a 2019 arrest. The settlement was reached during mediation that concluded on Tuesday evening, according to a source with direct knowledge of the talks.
The agreement, which is subject to state legislative approval, was confirmed by Louisiana's Republican attorney general, Liz Murrill, who said in a statement: 'The state agreed that it was time to end this litigation … and put this matter behind us.' The statement alluded to Greene's death occurring under former Democratic governor John Bel Edwards.
Body-worn camera footage of the incident, withheld for two years but published by the Associated Press in 2021, showed troopers swarming Greene as he raised his hands and pleaded for mercy. Troopers repeatedly shocked him with stun guns, wrestled him to the ground, put him in a chokehold, and punched him. Experts said the position in which he was left may have dangerously restricted his breathing.
State police initially blamed Greene's death on a crash from a high-speed chase, but that explanation was contradicted by photos of his bruised face, a hospital report showing stun gun prongs in his back, and an emergency room doctor who noted the crash story 'does not add up.' Federal prosecutors did not pursue charges, and a state grand jury indicted four troopers and a deputy, but only two officers faced misdemeanor battery charges, each pleading no contest.
The settlement resolves a federal civil lawsuit filed by Greene's daughter, Tayla, alleging wrongful death. The US Justice Department launched a broader civil rights investigation after the AP reported that Greene's arrest was one of at least a dozen cases involving concealed evidence of beatings and excessive force by state troopers.
