New Castle County police agrees to pay over $1M for lawsuit settlement to the family of Lymond Moses, who sued the New Castle County police for Moses’ wrongful death and using excessive force during the fatal police shooting incident in 2021.

The fatal police shooting incident happened last January of 2021 when Moses was shot by three county officers in Wilmington. Prior to the fatal police shooting incident, Moses was found unconscious in a rental car with the engine running and drugs visible inside. The three police officers at the time were patrolling to look for stolen cars.

Lymond Moses car and its windshield with visible bullet hole. | WDEL

Moses’ family sued the New Castle County and the police officers, Robert Ellis, Roberto Ieradi and Sean Sweeney-Jones for wrongful death and excessive force during the fatal police shooting incident in 2021.

At the time of the fatal police shooting incident, Moses was said to have an extremely high amount of fentanyl in his system. The fatal police shooting incident occurred after the officers woke him up but he refused to comply and drove away a short chase when Moses turned his car around and accelerated towards the officers.

The officers repeatedly warned Moses not to drive towards them, but he ignored their commands and accelerated his car. One of the officers fired several shots, ultimately hitting Moses in the head on the fourth shot.

The lawsuit alleges that the officers acted recklessly and violated Moses’ constitutional rights. It also claims that the county failed to properly train the police and that their policies and practices led to the fatal police shooting incident.

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Although the police of New Castle County agree to pay for the settlement, it did not signify their admission of any liability and wrongdoing regarding the 2021 fatal police shooting incident.

In an ABC News report, Daniel Griffith, the attorney representing the three officers, told the judge that base on the footage that was caught on the body cameras of the officers during the said fatal police shooting, it shows that the police were in harm’s way. The said fatal police shooting was an act of self-defense.

The attorneys representing the county and the three police officers argued that Moses’ death was the result of his actions during the night of the said fatal police shooting. Attorney David MacMain said to the judge in a hearing in June that during the night of the said fatal police shooting, Moses made a lot of bad decisions.

The settlement was signed by a representative from Moses’ side last July 21, six weeks after a federal judge heard arguments on a motion by the defendants for a ruling in their favor without a trial.

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