Jury: Officer must pay man’s family $4.4M in fatal shooting

EUCLID, Ohio (AP) — A white police officer who fatally shot a Black driver during a struggle inside a car must pay his family $4.4 million.

An Ohio jury made the award Tuesday, finding that Euclid officer Matthew Rhodes acted recklessly when he climbed into 23-year-old Luke Stewart’s car and shot him as Stewart drove away in 2017.

The shooting had inflamed racial tensions in Euclid, a Cleveland suburb, and a grand jury declined to indict Rhodes after hearing evidence from prosecutors.

The jury’s finding stemmed from a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Stewart’s mother.