Family of man fatally shot by Cleveland cop is awarded $5.5M

CLEVELAND (AP) — The family of a man fatally shot in the head by a Cleveland policeman has been awarded $5.5 million by a jury in a civil case that found the officer was liable for using excessive force.

The decision today in the family’s federal lawsuit comes over a year after the county prosecutor cleared the officer, Roger Jones, of criminal wrongdoing in the March 2012 shooting of 20-year-old Kenneth Smith of Euclid.

The Smith family’s attorney, Terry Gilbert, says the jury’s decision means it recognized that Jones acted improperly.

A city spokesman didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

The Northeast Ohio Media Group reports the prosecutor concluded Smith was lunging for a gun when he was shot, but his family questioned that account.