ST. LUCIE COUNTY, FL (CNN/RNN) - A jury awarded a Florida family just four cents in damages in the police shooting death of a father of three.
The jury put the damages at $4, but because they ruled the sheriff’s office involved was only one percent responsible for the death, the family only gets four cents.
The shooting happened in 2014, when police went to Gregory Hill Jr.’s home on a noise complaint.
Deputy Christopher Newman said Hill brandished a handgun when he partially opened and then closed a garage door.
Newman shot through the door four times, killing Hill. It was never explained what threat he perceived.
Hill's mother sued the deputy and sheriff for wrongful death, excessive force, and other charges.
The jury, though, effectively sided with law enforcement, awarding just $1 for funeral expenses, and $1 for each child's loss of a parent. With the finding that the sheriff's office was only one percent responsible, that reduced each award to one cent.
Hill’s fiancée, Monique Davis, said her “heart just dropped” when she heard the ruling.
"I'd have rather seen a zero than have to tell the children that their pain and suffering for losing their father is only a dollar," she told NBC News.
The Associated Press reported that the jury had trouble reaching a decision.
Notes showed the jury told the judge in the case they couldn’t reach a unanimous decision, before eventually finding Hill 99 percent responsible for his death because he was drunk at the time of the incident.
The New York Times reported that because of the 99 percent responsibility finding, the family’s lawyer expected the judge to reduce even the four cents to nothing.
“I don’t get it,” the family lawyer, John Phillips, told The Times.
The sheriff applauded the verdict, saying the deputy made the best decision in a difficult situation.
Phillips called the ruling "perplexing" and said it sends a message to the children that "black lives don't matter."
He plans to file a motion for a new trial in U.S. District Court, and if that's denied, to the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Newman was never indicted in the case.
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