St. Paul approves $1.3 million settlement to family of man killed by police

St. Paul City Council members have approved a $1.3 million settlement with the family of Marcus Golden, eight years after the 24-year-old Black man was shot and killed by police.

The settlement, approved Wednesday, will dismiss officers involved in Golden's death as defendants in the lawsuit while granting his aunt Monique Cullars-Doty $1.3 million in damages, medical liens and attorneys' fees. Since her nephew's death in 2015, Cullars-Doty has been a visible activist in the Black Lives Matter movement and others decrying police brutality.

The city has also agreed to reserve an area for a memorial bench and plaque dedicated to Golden's memory along the lakeside of Como Park. His family must pay for it.

"The family of Marcus Golden has long-standing ties to our Saint Paul community, and while we cannot imagine the pain the family feels, we can learn from this tragedy," Mayor Melvin Carter said in a statement, adding that the Police Department has grown more transparent in use-of-force incidents since Golden's death.

"The [police] department remains committed to building the skills and expertise necessary for officers to best respond to the varying needs of our community. While Saint Paul has come a long way since the death of Mr. Golden, we still have work to do."

Carter said Golden's death has resulted in the St. Paul Police Department taking "active steps to bring about greater transparency in police investigations, including those that involve deadly force." That includes outside agencies investigating all shootings by officers. The department implemented its body-worn camera system in 2016 "and continues to strive to make the expedited sharing of video a priority for transparency."

Additionally, Carter said the department has put into place new use-of-force policies and training programs.

As part of the settlement, Golden's family will recommend one of their family members join the St. Paul Neighborhood Safety Community Council within six months.

Golden died on Jan. 14, 2015, after officers responded to a 911 call of a man texting death threats from an apartment building's parking lot. The caller identified himself as the ex-boyfriend of Golden's ex-girlfriend, and claimed that Golden stalked him before sending threats. He also said that Golden had a gun.

Officers Dan Peck and Jeremy Doverspike found Golden parked in an SUV behind the apartment building around 2 a.m., exited their squad car and ordered Golden to get out of his vehicle. He refused, and police say that Golden accelerated at high speed towards Doverspike — nearly hitting him.

That's when Peck and Doverspike shot at Golden, striking him before his SUV crashed into parked vehicles. Medics gave him aid, but Golden died on the scene. Police later said he had a loaded gun within reach when he was killed.

The St. Paul NAACP president called for an independent investigation the day of the shooting, saying that the review would "solidify" the relationship between community and police while restoring confidence in the review process. An attorney for Golden's family also called for a civil rights investigation into the case.

Around four months after Golden's death, a Washington County grand jury cleared Peck and Doverspike of wrongdoing.

Communities United Against Police Brutality, a Minnesota organization focused on deterring police violence that investigated the case, say they have unveiled new details about the circumstances around Golden's death. That report will be released Thursday.

"Since the day he was killed, Marcus' family has worked to clear his name from lies told by St. Paul police to justify his killing," CUAPB said in a statement, adding that their own investigation, aided by a hired ballistics expert, "uncovered and documented many new facts about the incident that repudiate the initial investigation and paint a very different picture of what happened to Marcus at the hands of police."