Ezell Ford's family reaches tentative settlement with city over lawsuit

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The family of Ezell Ford, a mentally challenged man fatally shot by LAPD, has reached a tentative settlement with the city of Los Angeles over a civil rights and wrongful death lawsuit.

The notice of settlement was filed Oct. 26 by attorneys for Edsell and Tritobia Ford, the father and mother of Ezell Ford, the City News Service reported. The agreement was reached during a mandatory settlement conference five days earlier, according to the plaintiffs' attorneys court papers.

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Terms of the settlement have not been revealed, though court papers stated the settlement was "conditional."

It was not immediately clear if the settlement requires approval by the Los Angeles City Council.

Back in August 2014, Ford was stopped by two officers in a South Los Angeles neighborhood. A confrontation occurred, and he was fatally shot.

His family alleges that the 25-year-old was killed while lying on the ground unarmed.

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Initially, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck ruled that the shooting was within department policy, and the officers did not do anything wrong because Ford was allegedly reaching for an officer's gun.

However, the police commission later concluded that Ford probably should have never been stopped by the officers to begin with.

The commission's findings stated that Officer Sharlton Wampler was unjustified in shooting Ford and that Officer Antonio Villegas was wrong to draw his weapon but acted appropriately in firing it because he believed Wampler's life was in danger.

City News Service contributed to this report.