*The family of Korryn Gaines has won an appeal in an ongoing wrongful death lawsuit against the Baltimore County Police.
The 23-year-old mother of two was fatally shot inside her home by police in 2016.
Last year, a judge overturned the decision of a jury that awarded more than $38 million to the Gaines family, who sued the department in 2018.
The award was broken up by family member with $32 million awarded to her son Kodi, $300,000 to Korryn Gaines’ father, $300,000 to Korryn Gaines’ mother, $300,000 to Korryn Gaines’ estate, and $4.5 million to Karsyn Courtney, Korryn Gaines’ daughter, per BET.com.
Legal experts noted at the time that the family may never see all that money.
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As reported by the L.A. Times, “Maryland’s cap on local governments’ liabilities in such cases — and the propensity of judges to lower large awards on appeal — make it unlikely Gaines’ relatives and her young son, Kodi, will see the full amounts.”
The case drew international attention and the jury’s award was one of the largest ever against a Baltimore-area police force. But Judge Mickey J. Norman dismissed the family’s claims against the county and the officer who fatally shot Gaines.
Norman ruled that Cpl. Royce Ruby was “objectively reasonable” when he shot the young woman during an hours-long standoff at her apartment after she failed to appear in court on separate counts of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
But on Wednesday, a special appeals court ruled in favor of the family, according to a regional outlet WJZ 13.
“Korryn Gaines died a horrible, tragic, sadistic death, and we just wanted justice for her and her family,” attorney J. Wyndal Gordon said.
Attorney Ken Ravenell noted that the judges’ determination that the lower court had “abused its discretion” when tossing out a jury’s previous decision results in the reinstatement of the $38 million in full, per Complex.
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