A proposed settlement between the city of Canton and the family of James Williams, the man fatally shot by a Canton police officer in 2022, totals $3.5 million, according to newly filed court records. The amount, which had not previously been released, is outlined in an application filed in Stark County Probate Court, and the approval of Judge Curt Werren is required for the settlement to become final.
Under the proposal, $1.96 million would go to Williams’ family and the remainder would go to attorneys’ fees and expenses. The filing calls for $396,709 to be paid to his widow, Marquetta Williams, and $390,000 to be paid to each of the couple’s four daughters. A total of $1.4 million would be paid to the plaintiffs’ attorneys, along with $143,290 in expenses, with the attorneys from the DiCello Levitt law firm based in Mentor and Blakemore, Meeker & Bowler Co. of Akron.
Williams, 46, was shot early on Jan. 1, 2022, at his home in the 2300 block of 10th Street SW while he was firing a rifle into the air to celebrate the new year, according to the court reporting. Canton police officer Robert Huber was the officer who shot him. WNIR reported the same account on Oct. 20, saying Williams was firing celebratory gunshots at his home on 10th Street SW when he was fatally shot by Huber.
Marquetta Williams filed a federal civil rights lawsuit over her husband’s death, seeking at least $1 million in compensatory and punitive damages. Huber and the city were the remaining defendants following the dismissal of current and past police supervisors, including current Chief John Gabbard and former Chief Jack Angelo. The lawsuit contended Williams was not posing a threat to the officer or anybody else.
The city and the family’s attorneys reached a settlement agreement in September to avoid a scheduled trial. Family attorney Bobby DiCello has said the agreement is pending court approval, and the probate filing is the step that would allow the estate settlement to proceed. Messages were left with representatives of the law firms on the afternoon of Oct. 19 offering them an opportunity to comment on the settlement figures, and they did not reply immediately.
Canton Law Director Jason P. Reese said the city’s own expense was limited to a $125,000 insurance deductible that has been paid, and that the remainder of the settlement is the responsibility of the city’s insurer, The Ohio Plan. Huber remains with the Canton Police Department as a patrolman, and a Stark County grand jury opted not to criminally charge him after he said he feared for his safety and for others.
What happens next is the court review in Stark County Probate Court. Until Judge Werren approves the application, the $3.5 million figure remains a proposed settlement rather than a final one, and the federal case remains in the process of being closed out on the terms the two sides reached in September.
Photo: Niagara66, CC BY