Cobb to pay $275K over police shooting of unarmed teen
Cobb will pay $275,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a man who was shot in the leg as an unarmed teenager by a county police officer.
Neghasi Middleton was 16 years old in 2016 when Officer James Caleb Elliott fired eight shots at him as he ran away.
According to press reports, Middleton was sitting in the driver's seat of a PT Cruiser in Mableton when Elliot arrived on the scene following a report of a suspicious vehicle.
After running the plate number, Elliot found it had been linked to a car jacking and asked Middleton and several other boys who were with him to step out of the car and get on the ground, at which point Middleton fled.
One of the eight shots Elliot fired struck Middleton in the back of his upper thigh.
The officer resigned from the force, and the police department changed its use-of-force policy and firearms training as a result.
A grand jury declined to charge Elliot, but Middleton’s civil suit against the county resulted in the settlement, which was signed in March.
The agreement says it is not an admission of liability on Cobb’s part. It also includes a confidentiality clause barring Middleton and his representatives from disclosing the terms of the settlement, despite it being subject to the Open Records Act and committing public money.
The County Attorney’s Office did not respond to a request for comment. A message left at the law office of Middleton’s attorney was not returned by press time.
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Meris Lutz is a contributing writer covering climate, the environment and the economy. She is particularly interested in stories that explore the intersections between climate change and labor, markets, health, biodiversity, government transparency and public access to natural resources.
