Atlanta City Council approves $1.4M settlement for teen killed by officer in 2019 shooting
D'Ettrick Griffin (Family photo used with permission)
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article stated that the city of Atlanta agreed to a $1.4 million settlement with former police officer Oliver Simmonds. The settlement was reached with the family of D’Ettrick Griffin, a teenager who was fatally shot in the 2019 incident.
ATLANTA – The Atlanta City Council unanimously voted on Monday to settle with the family of an 18-year-old who was killed after a shooting involving a former police officer in 2019.
The backstory:
D'Ettrick Griffin, 18, was found crashed a few blocks away from a Shell gas station on July 15, 2019.
Oliver Simmonds, who was assigned to former Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’s Executive Protection Unit, was charged with felony murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and two counts of violation of oath of public office in October 2022.
During his trial in September 2023, testimony revealed Griffin was shot when he slid into the driver’s seat of Simmonds’ unmarked police SUV.
Simmonds, who was in plain clothes and pumping gas at the time, opened fire, striking Griffin. Griffin sped off and crashed a short distance away.
Oliver Simmonds stands trial for the murder of 18-year-old D'Ettrick Griffin in Fulton County Superior Court on Sept. 18, 2024. (FOX 5)
It took four hours for a jury to hand down a "not guilty" verdict.
What's next:
The Atlanta City Council has agreed to settle with Griffin’s family for the amount of $1.4 million.
The Source: FOX 5 gathered the new developments in this story from the Atlanta City Council meeting. Previous FOX 5 Atlanta reports were also used.