CLEVELAND (AP) — Cleveland will pay $4.8 million to the family of a 13-year-old girl killed when a stolen car driven by a teenage carjacker jumped a curb during a police pursuit and struck her.
The settlement attorneys for the family announced Monday is one of the largest in Ohio involving a police chase. Messages seeking comment left with spokespeople for the city of Cleveland were not immediately returned.
Tamia Chappman was killed in December 2019 when a car driven by a 15-year-old boy struck her as she walked from school to a library in East Cleveland. The driver of the stolen car was charged as an adult and is now serving a prison term.
The carjacking had occurred roughly 15 miles (25 kilometers) away in Cleveland. The police pursuit began after an off-duty Cleveland officer witnessed the carjacking and followed the vehicle, authorities said.
Chappman’s family had filed a wrongful death suit in 2020 that named 22 Cleveland police officers who their attorneys said were involved in the pursuit.
“I’ll never get over it,” Sherrie Chappman, Tamia’s mother, said about her daughter’s death during a news conference Monday. “I miss my daughter. We will never get her back. I don’t want anyone’s kids to get hurt. Stop the chases!”
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