Los Angeles, California – The Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a settlement of over $24 million on Tuesday for the mother of Jesse Murillo, who was fatally shot by two police officers in 2017. The council voted 11-0 in favor of awarding $24,450,750 to Tammy Murillo, with four council members absent during the vote.
In a significant case involving an LAPD shooting, a federal jury had previously ruled in 2023 that Tammy Murillo should receive $23.8 million in compensation for her son’s death. The jury determined that officers Fred Sigman and Christopher Montague had used excessive and unreasonable force when they shot Jesse Murillo.
The incident occurred on December 23, 2017, when officers responded to a 911 call about a family disturbance. Mistaking a metal bar for a machete, the officers fatally shot 32-year-old Navy veteran, Jesse Murillo. Testimony revealed that Murillo had been involved in a physical altercation with his sister and had placed her fiancée in a headlock.
Despite the shooting being deemed “legal” by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office in 2020, the recent settlement reflects the jury’s verdict, which found the use of deadly force to be wrongful. Dale Galipo, a prominent civil rights attorney representing Murillo’s family, argued that Jesse was actually running away from the officers when they shot him, contrary to their claim that they feared for their lives.
The jury awarded $6.5 million for pre-death pain and suffering, $5.3 million for loss of life, and $12 million for wrongful death damages to Jesse Murillo’s mother, Tammy Murillo.
City Controller Kenneth Mejia released a report earlier this month revealing that the city of Los Angeles had paid almost $472 million in the past three years for liability claims. Mejia’s report also included a breakdown of liability claim payouts, with the LAPD accounting for approximately $125.2 million, followed by Los Angeles Sanitation & Environment with $93.7 million and Street Services with $88.4 million.
These liability claim payouts are not funded directly from the responsible city departments’ budgets. Instead, a significant portion comes from the General Fund, which is used to provide services and resources to the people of Los Angeles, according to Mejia’s office.
The settlement reached between the Los Angeles City Council and Tammy Murillo underscores the financial impact of police misconduct and the need for accountability in law enforcement.