Colorado city to pay $2.6M to family of man killed by cop

DENVER – The Colorado city of Aurora will pay $2.6 million to settle a lawsuit filed by relatives of an unarmed black man who was fatally shot by a police officer in 2015.

City attorney Mike Hyman says the police department also agreed to policy changes as part of the settlement over the March 2015 death of 37-year-old Naeschylus Carter Vinzant.

A grand jury declined to indict officer Paul Jerothe.

It concluded he acted reasonably when he shot Vinzant once in the chest. Officers later discovered the victim was unarmed.

Vinzant was on parole for an assault conviction and had cut off his monitoring bracelet and fled after beating his wife and taking their 2-month-old son.

Jerothe told investigators he shot Vinzant because he feared for his safety.