The family of an 8-year-old girl fatally shot by Pennsylvania police in 2021 has reached an $11 million settlement.
Fanta Bility died in an incident that occurred during a football game at Academy Park High School in Sharon Hill, Pa., just 10 miles north of Philadelphia, when teenagers at the game opened fire at one other during an argument, reports NBC News.
When three Sharon Hill officers responded to the scene, they fired shots of their own, which killed Fanta and wounded three others, according to the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office.
“There is no amount of money that will ever bring Fanta back or erase the horrible tragedy of what occurred on August 27, 2021, from our minds,” said Bility’s mother Tenneh Kromah in a statement. “We hope to move on and focus specifically on the Fanta Bility Foundation and keeping Fanta’s name and legacy alive.”
The Borough of Sharon Hill said it hopes the settlement can “provide those impacted a small measure of closure.”
The three officers involved in the incident were fired and charged with voluntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment.
The officers — Devon Smith, Sean Dolan, and Brian Devaney — pleaded guilty to 10 counts each of reckless endangerment and were sentenced to five years of probation. Charges of manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter were dismissed.
Prosecutors said the officers’ plea deal was decided in consultation with Bility’s family.
Evan Rosen
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