Baton Rouge Pays $4.5 Million to Alton Sterling's Five Children After Fatal Police Shooting

On July 5, 2016, Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old father of five, was selling CDs outside the Triple S Food Mart in Baton Rouge when officers Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake II responded to a call about a man with a gun. Officers used Tasers and tackled Sterling to the ground. Salamoni then fired six shots into Sterling's chest. Bystander video of the encounter spread quickly and sparked protests across the country.

No criminal charges followed at the state or federal level. Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry declined to prosecute, and the Justice Department closed its investigation without charges. Salamoni was eventually fired from the department but was permitted to retire retroactively after appealing his termination. Lake received a three-day suspension.

In 2017, attorneys for Sterling's five children filed a wrongful death and survival action in federal court against the City of Baton Rouge, the Baton Rouge Police Department, former police chief Carl Dabadie, and the two officers. The complaint argued that the shooting stemmed from deficient training, a departmental culture that tolerated excessive force, and a failure to de-escalate confrontations. L. Chris Stewart, alongside co-counsel Dale Glover, Mike Adams, and Brandon DeCuir, represented the children throughout the litigation.

The road to settlement was long. The East Baton Rouge Metro Council rejected three separate settlement offers, including a $5 million proposal that the family had been willing to accept. Stewart publicly warned that a jury verdict, once it heard evidence about supervisors who allowed officers with documented disciplinary problems to remain on the force, could reach nine figures. With trial scheduled for March 2021, the council voted 7-4 in February 2021 to approve a $4.5 million resolution.

The $1 million upfront payment came from the city's insurance reserves. The remaining $3.5 million was to be paid over four years from the city's annual operating budget. Accompanying the settlement, Baton Rouge adopted new use-of-force policies: prohibitions on chokeholds, mandatory verbal warnings before using deadly force, and a ban on firing into moving vehicles. The family formally moved to dismiss the lawsuit in May 2021. No appeal of the settlement has been reported.