Andrew Brown’s family to receive $3 million settlement after he was fatally shot by sheriff’s deputies

A North Carolina sheriff’s office has reached a $3 million settlement in a lawsuit filed by the family of Andrew Brown Jr., an unarmed Black man who was killed by police last year.

Andrew Brown’s Family lawsuit

The family of Andrew Brown Jr. had filed a $30 million civil rights lawsuit in 2021, saying the father died because officers showed “intentional and reckless disregard of his life.”

Brown was killed on April 21 of last year by Pasquotank County sheriff’s deputies while they were attempting to execute drug-related warrants at his Elizabeth City home. Several deputies surrounded Brown in his BMW before his car backed up and moved forward. They fired fourteen shots at and into his vehicle. He was killed by a bullet to the back of his head.

District Attorney Andrew Womble had contended that Brown used his vehicle as a deadly weapon, leading to deputies to deem it was acceptable to use deadly force. But lawyers for Brown’s family refuted that assertion stating evidence showed Brown was attempting to drive away from the scene and the shooting was unjustified as he posed no threat.

The family of Brown was represented by attorneys Bakari Sellers, Harry D aniels, Chantel Cherry-Lassiter, Chance Lynch, and Ben Crump, who issued a statement on their behalf.

“Andrew Brown Jr. was a devoted father who wanted his children to have the things he didn’t,” the attorneys said. “While no settlement could ever fill the hole his death left in their hearts, this agreement is about providing for those children’s futures, securing their education, and ensuring their dreams didn’t die with their father.”

“No settlement can alleviate the loss to Mr. Brown’s children. However, the Estate of Andrew Brown accepts this settlement,” the statement concluded.

No officers were charged in connection to Brown’s death. The FBI, however, is conducting a federal civil rights investigation into the case.