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Korryn Gaines
Korryn Gaines

Korryn Gaines' Family to File $4 Million Wrongful Death Suit Against Baltimore County Police

Lenny Kravitz, Grace Jones, Lauryn Hill, Lion Babe, Thundercat, SZA & More Rock The Afropunk Festival 2015 in Brooklyn, NY.

Earlier this summer, the killing of Maryland resident Korryn Gaines (and wounding of her 5 year old son) by Baltimore County police became one of many tragic stories of a young life lost at the hands of the police. While nothing can bring Korryn back, her family is looking to find some form of closure in filing a wrongful death suit. The family of the 23 year old have plans to sue for $4 million total, suing the officer and the county for $2 million each.

According to documents, the family is suing for violating “Maryland Declaration of Rights Articles 10, 24, 26 {Suppression of Speech; Excessive Force; Gross Negligence (failure to train and failure to supervise)}; and Wrongful Death and Survival Action and other common law torts."

The day after the shooting, Police Chief James Johnson told reporters that Korryn “pointed a shotgun at officers as she held her 5-year-old son prompting an officer to fire.” Eyewitnesses on hand as well as Korryn’s family dispute that claim, with her neighbor stating that Korryn could be heard requesting a copy of the search warrant before telling officers "put your guns down back away from my door and I’ll come out" and “leave me alone and get the hell away from my house.” This preceded officer Ruby - a 16 year veteran of the department - shooting and killing Gaines (the documents also note this is not Ruby's first on-duty fatality).

You can find further details on the case as well as the official court documents via Blavity, and we’ll be sure to keep you updated as the case progresses.