$3 Million: #DonovonLynch Fam, VaBeach, Reach Settlement in Police Shooting Case
BIG UPDATE IN LYNCH CASE — Wayne Lynch, the father of Donovon Lynch, have reached a settlement in the wrongful death lawsuit filed last year against the City of Virginia Beach. The Virginia Beach City Council approved the $3 million settlement agreement tonight. The settlement award is likely one of the highest in recent memory for an officer-involved wrongful death case in the city.
The agreement between the City of Virginia Beach and Wayne Lynch avoids a pending trial that was scheduled for March 2023 in federal court with Judge Arenda Wright Allen presiding.
#JUSTICEFORDONOVON. 🌹 Sixty-four days after Justin Fairfax joined Lynch’s legal team, along with attorney Thomas B. Martin, the case has been settled for $3 million. A joint statement between the parties that was issued tonight is seen below.
At a press conference on Oct. 10, 2022, Wayne Lynch, the father of Donovon Lynch, and Fairfax, a former Assistant United States Attorney who served as Virginia’s 41st Lieutenant Governor, held a press conference at the site of Donovon Lynch’s killing on Atlantic Avenue in Virginia Beach. Donovon Lynch was shot by a Virginia Beach Police officer on March 26, 2021.
13News’ Janet Roach broke the news tonight on the settlement agreement and reported on monetary settlements in other wrongful death lawsuits across the country involving police.
"Other high-profile police-involved shooting deaths including Philando Castile, Minneapolis; Tamir Rice, Cleveland; Michael Brown, Ferguson, Missouri and Freddie Gray, Baltimore reaped settlements ranging from $1.5 million dollars to $6.4 million dollars,” Roach noted.
"There’s no amount of money—there’s no dollar figure that you can give to a family to deal with the loss of their child. It should never happen and that’s really part of the justice here that we don’t want this to happen any other family ever again,” attorney Justin Fairfax told 13News.
Donovon Lynch’s case received a great deal of press attention as he is a cousin of music superstar Pharrell Williams. Williams moved his Something in the Water music festival out of Virginia Beach to Washington, DC after the killing of Donovon Lynch and noted “toxic energy” related to the death of his cousin.
Last week on December 8, Virginia’s Black lawmakers released a statement of support for the Lynch family.
Wayne Lynch and Justin Fairfax will hold a press conference tomorrow at 8 a.m. at the Walter E. Hoffman United States Courthouse at 600 Granby Street in Norfolk on the case.
Below is a documentary created by 13News on Donovon Lynch.
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