‘IMMENSE HURT’

Family of Black Teen Who Died in Police Restraint Awarded $5M Settlement

The partial settlement comes nearly four years after 19-year-old Anton Black was held face-down by three police officers for roughly six minutes, his family’s lawsuit says.

Three Maryland towns will pay $5 million to the family of Anton Black, a 19-year-old Black youth who died as police restrained him in 2018, the family’s lawyers said Monday. The partial settlement comes nearly two years after the family filed a federal lawsuit, claiming three white officers—two of whom were off-duty—chased the teenager, stunned him with a Taser, and pinned him face-down for roughly six minutes on his mother’s doorstep. The 19-year-old’s mother, Jennell Black, said in a statement, “I had to watch those police officers kill my son, while he pleaded for his life and called out to me. There are no words to describe the immense hurt that I will always feel when I think back on that tragic day, when I think of my son.” As part of the agreement, the towns of Greensboro, Ridgely, and Centreville have agreed to train their officers on mental health response, implicit bias, and de-escalation techniques. “I hope the reforms within the police departments will save lives,” Jennell Black said, “and prevent any family from feeling the pain we feel every day.”