Florida gov OKs $6M for man paralyzed by deputy shooting

Posted: Jun 10, 2020 / 02:27 PM EDT / Updated: Jun 10, 2020 / 02:27 PM EDT

In this Jan. 28, 2016, file photo, Dontrell Stephens arrives at the federal courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for a civil suit. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed a bill approving a $6 million payment to Stephens, who was left paralyzed when a sheriff’s deputy mistook his cellphone for a handgun and shot him four times. The Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office must pay the money to 27-year-old Stephens, who was left paralyzed from the waist down in the 2013 shooting. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP, File)

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed a bill approving a $6 million payment to a black man who was left paralyzed when a sheriff’s deputy mistook his cellphone for a handgun and shot him four times.

The Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office must pay the money to 27-year-old Dontrell Stephens, who was left paralyzed from the waist down in the 2013 shooting.

The Legislature in March overwhelmingly approved a bill waiving the state’s $200,000 limit that local governments can be required to pay for damages in most cases.

A federal civil jury in 2016 had awarded Stephens $22 million after he sued, an amount Palm Beach Sheriff Ric Bradshaw refused to pay.