Family of Ronnell Foster killed by Vallejo police to receive $5.7 million

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The city of Vallejo in the San Francisco Bay area has agreed to pay $5.7 million to the family of Ronell Foster.

Foster was shot and killed by a Vallejo police officer in 2018.

Ronnell Foster was killed by police

Foster, 33, was riding a bike in downtown Vallejo without a headlamp the evening of Feb. 13, 2018, when he was spotted and pursued by Officer Ryan McMahon.

Police officer’s account

McMahon told investigators that he stopped Foster in order to “educate the public on the dangers that this person was creating for himself and the traffic on Sonoma Boulevard,” the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Ronnell Foster

After a brief pursuit, McMahon said Foster grabbed his metal flashlight and tried to strike him during a physical altercation, prompting McMahon to open fire.

Foster died at the scene after being shot in the back of the head.

McMahon was cleared of wrongdoing in January by the Solano County District Attorney’s Office.

They declared McMahon’s deadly use of force was justified after an investigation that included body camera footage.

Family of Ronnell Foster files lawsuit

Ronnell Foster’s family brought a federal civil rights lawsuit against McMahon and the city and has settled.

The city itself will pay the Foster family only $500,000. The rest will be paid by the California Association of Joint Powers Authorities, a municipal insurance provider.

The Foster family is “happy the truth has finally come out,” said Adanté Pointer, a lawyer for the family.

“Ronell did not deserve to die,” Pointer said.

“True justice would be to see Officer McMahon walking into court as a criminal defendant.

“What the family found most disturbing are the lies the city put out to justify his death when they knew the whole time Ronell’s death was not justified and the officer’s conduct flat-out wrong.”