The city of Canton, Ohio, has proposed paying $3.5 million to settle the federal lawsuit over the police killing of James Williams, a Black father of four daughters, who was shot dead in his own yard minutes into the 2022 New Year. The officer who fired was never charged.
A Stark County grand jury declined to indict Officer Robert Huber, who is white. The family’s civil case is the only form of accountability this killing has produced, and it took nearly five years.
What happened in the yard
Williams, 46, was firing a rifle into the air from behind a six-foot privacy fence to mark the new year. Huber ran to the side of the house and fired eight shots through the wooden fence. Six hit Williams, according to local reports. He stumbled into the house and collapsed in front of his wife and children. He died at a hospital.
The family’s lawsuit says Huber fired “without warning or announcing his presence” and that Williams posed no threat to him. Canton’s police chief at the time, Jack Angelo, said the officer “feared for his safety and fired his duty weapon.” Body camera footage shows Huber shouting “Get down!” after the shots.
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation reviewed the shooting and sent its findings to the grand jury. Williams’s death brought protests in Canton, and three City Council members walked out of a meeting to stand with demonstrators.
Where the money goes
The proposed deal needs approval from Judge Curt Werren in Stark County Probate Court. According to court records, as reported by Hoodline, the plaintiffs’ attorneys would take $1.4 million in fees and $143,290 in expenses. Marquetta Williams, his widow, would receive $396,709, and each of the couple’s four daughters $390,000.
That leaves the family about $1.96 million of the headline figure. The city and the family’s lawyers reached the agreement in September, avoiding a scheduled trial, according to local outlets.
“The truth of the matter is the tragedy that went down on Jan. 1 was life-altering and is not satisfied by the dollars and cents of it all,” family attorney Bobby Dicello told News 5 Cleveland.
Marquetta Williams filed the case on behalf of her husband’s estate and their children. At the news conference announcing it, she said: “I will fight today, tomorrow and every day until I have no breath left.”
The claims included excessive force, wrongful death and deliberate indifference to medical needs. Whether the settlement carries an admission of liability has not been reported.
Hoodline reports that Huber remains on the Canton force. The city has not said otherwise in the coverage reviewed. Judge Werren’s ruling on the settlement is the next step.
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