Sean Bell’s Family, Friends Awarded $7.5 Million in Wrongful Death Suit (But Is Money Enough?)
Four years after Sean Bell was murdered by NYPD officers, who got acquitted (of course), the victims were awarded $7.5 million in a wrongful death settlement. Bell’s daughters Jada, 7, and Jordyn, 4, will receive $3.25 million. His friend Joseph Guzman will receive $3 million, and Trent Benefield will get $900,000.
Nicole Paultre Bell, who has worked tirelessly on the case, will not receive a share of the money because they were never married. “No amount of money can provide closure, no amount of money can make up for the pain,” she told the New York Times. “We’ll just try to learn how to live with it and move on.”
Nicole said she would lobby for police reforms that would prevent such an incident from happening again.
My Thoughts: The court system did not administer the proper justice but hopefully those men who committed this heinous act without thinking, live the rest of their lives with heavy heads and hearts and never escape the foul thing they did (at least not mentally). Same goes for every single juror and judge and politician who didn’t feel the need to punish the officers, which sends the message to other would be tyrants and criminals with badges that they can terrorize people, contribute to the destruction of lives and still get off easily smh.
Via Essence
Category: News
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Starrene Rhett Rocque is a recovering journalist who often fantasizes about becoming a shotgun-toting B-movie heroine.Subscribe
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Honestly is money ever enough? No, it won’t give the children their father back. It won’t give his significant other her partner back either but it will provide some sense of security of the family. It’s a tragic story but no ending without justice against the people who murdered him will suffice.
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