Family of woman killed by police may not see full $37M award

BALTIMORE

The family of a Maryland woman who was fatally shot by police two years ago may never receive the entire $37 million it was awarded in a lawsuit this week.

Maryland has a cap on local governments’ liabilities in such cases, and judges have a tendency to lower large awards on appeal, The Baltimore Sun reported. Legal experts told the newspaper that it’s unlikely the young son of Korryn Gaines and other relatives will see all the money awarded Friday.

“While that’s a tremendous verdict, it’s certainly going to be subjected to challenges left and right,” said attorney Andrew G. Slutkin, who was not involved in the case but has worked on large civil claims.

“This will be litigated for years,” Slutkin added. “It’s going to be subjected to many motions in the trial court and the appellate courts as well.”

Gaines, 23, was shot and killed in her home in 2016 after a standoff with Baltimore County police. Her son Kodi, who was 5 at the time, was struck by gunfire in the face and the elbow.

A jury of six women found that the first shot from the officer who fired at Gaines was not reasonable, violating her and her son’s civil rights under state and federal law. The jury awarded more than $32 million in damages to Kodi, $4.5 million to his sister, Karsyn, and smaller amounts to other relatives.