The family of Jamal Sutherland, who died in jail earlier this year while being forcibly removed by deputies, will receive a $10 million settlement.
The Charleston County Council in South Carolina unanimously approved the settlement Tuesday night, according to video from the meeting viewed by CNN. The settlement was first approved by the finance committee prior to the council meeting.
Mark Peper, the Sutherland family attorney, told CNN the family will release a statement on the settlement on Wednesday. The County Council said it will also release a statement on Wednesday.
The settlement follows Sutherland dying while in custody on January 5, 2021, at the Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center in North Charleston. Footage released May 12 by the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office shows deputies pepper spraying and tasing Sutherland, 31, multiple times after he appeared to resist leaving his cell for a bail hearing.
“What is the meaning of this?” Sutherland can be heard saying on video as deputies enter his cell and one tells him not to resist. After struggling with both deputies, a medic was seen asking to check Sutherland’s vitals.
“He got tased about probably six to eight times, at least,” one deputy tells the medic.
The Sheriff’s Office identified the two deputies involved in the incident as Sgt. Lindsay Fickett and Detention Deputy Brian Houle. Both deputies were fired May 17.
The deputies were initially suspended for 30 days and were on desk duty, said Sheriff Kristin Graziano, who was elected in November and began her duties as sheriff the day of Sutherland’s death.
Graziano told CNN the two officers were not sworn deputy sheriffs but detention officers.
Charleston County Solicitor Scarlett Wilson said her office is reviewing the case and she will decide about whether anyone will be criminally charged “before the end of June.”
CNN’s Natasha Chen contributed to this report.