Settlement Reached In Fatal Police Shooting Of Black California Motorist

Jet, August 14, 2000

The city of Riverside, CA, recently reached a settlement with the family of a Black woman whom police shot to death in her car, USA Today reported.

Court documents filed said a tentative settlement had been reached in the death of 19-year-old Tyisha Miller but did not reveal an amount. Ronald Butler, Miller's uncle, said the settlement was from $3 million to $10 million, the newspaper reported.

Attorneys for the family claimed "racial animus" led four officers, all White or Hispanic, to shoot Miller to death in December 1998. Officers fired 23 shots, hitting Miller 12 times, the paper said.