Aldermen gave the go-ahead Monday for a $16 million payment to the family of a woman fatally shot by a police officer who was firing at a teenager carrying a baseball bat, after the city’s top attorney said the “tragedy” of her death could have prompted a jury to award even more money if the case went to trial.
Corporation Counsel Edward Siskel told the City Council Finance Committee the payment to Bettie Jones’ family made financial sense in part because wrongful death lawsuits filed against the city by her family and that of Quintonio LeGrier were consolidated together in court. That could have meant even larger verdicts against the city in both cases, he said.
Jones — a 55-year-old churchgoing grandmother — was standing behind LeGrier when Officer Robert Rialmo opened fire on him. LeGrier was in the stairway of his and Jones’ apartment building in December 2015, and came down the stairs toward Rialmo holding a bat. Rialmo shot LeGrier and accidentally shot Jones as well. Both died from their wounds.
“The shooting death of Bettie Jones, an innocent bystander who was trying to help a neighbor and the police, was clearly a tragedy,” Siskel said. “In evaluating the case for potential settlement, the legal team had to account for the profound sympathy that any jury would likely have for the Jones family, and the impact on the combined potential verdicts in the Jones and LeGrier cases.”
“We had to confront the very real possibility that the jury’s attention would have focused on compensating Jones’ family for their terrible loss, regardless of whether they believed the shooting was legally justified or not,” he said. “The death of Jones, a completely innocent bystander, would likely have controlled the narrative of the case.”
If the full City Council approves the payment as expected Thursday, it would be among the largest settlements in city history for a shooting by a Chicago police officer.
The city’s police disciplinary agency, the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, ruled the shooting unjustified and recommended that Rialmo be fired, but police Superintendent Eddie Johnson determined Rialmo was justified. The Chicago Police Board will now decide whether to fire Rialmo, who remains on paid desk duty.
“The officer maintains that the last time he observed Bettie Jones before the shooting, she was turning to walk back into her apartment,” Siskel said Monday. “He has admitted, however, that he fired his weapon in the direction of the area in which he had last seen Miss Jones, and also has admitted that he did not account for her whereabouts prior to firing his weapon.”
City attorneys reached the settlement with the Jones family in June, shortly before trial was set to start in the family’s wrongful death lawsuit.
A jury awarded the LeGrier family $1.05 million in damages in its wrongful death lawsuit in June. But the judge in the trial wiped away that verdict and the award to the teen’s family after noting jurors also had found Rialmo reasonably feared for his life when he fired. Lawyers for the LeGrier family have said they plan to challenge the ruling.
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