A Cook County jury has awarded $8.5 million in damages to the mother of an 18-year-old shot in the back and killed by a Chicago, Ill., police officer.
Aaron Harrison’s death in 2007 helped focus public scrutiny on allegations of police misconduct.
Jurors’ decision late Thursday suggests they accepted Harrison was unarmed and that someone planted a gun next to him after he fell.
The law firm representing the family, Cochran & Montgomery, said Friday the decision “vindicates” those who long asserted Harrison was a victim.
Officer John Fitzgerald contended he fired when Harrison pulled a gun as he sought to elude police. The Independent Police Review Authority in 2009 found the shooting justified.
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