The city of Virginia Beach has agreed to pay $3 million to the family of Donovon Lynch after reaching a settlement in their wrongful death lawsuit. Lynch, a Virginia Beach native and Pharrell Williams‘ cousin, was shot and killed by the police last year, prompting his father Wayne Lynch to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the city.
According to Billboard, Lynch, a 25-year-old former college football player, was shot and killed by officer Solomon D. Simmons, who was apparently responding to a report of a shooting at a nightclub Lynch attended with a friend. In a joint statement released by the city and the Lynch family, the city admits culpability, writing:
As we have learned more over time about the facts of that fateful night and encounter, we have come to understand that a series of unfortunate occurrences led to Donovon’s death that night – which in hindsight should never have occurred as it was later determined that neither Donovon nor the officer set in motion the events that transpired.
We understand that the settlement will in no way lessen the grief and loss for the Lynch family. The City’s ongoing support for its public safety personnel and its investment in officer education and technological advancements underscores the City’s commitment to providing greater transparency.
Pharrell had previously censured Virginia Beach, where he also grew up, after moving his Something In The Water Festival, citing “toxic energy.” “I love my city, but for far too long it has been run by and with toxic energy,” he said at the time. “The toxic energy that changed the narrative several times around the homicide of my cousin, Donovan Lynch, a citizen of Virginia, is the same toxic energy that changed the narrative around the mass murder and senseless loss of life at [mass shooting site] Building Number 2 [of the Virginia Beach Municipal Center].” He has since decided to bring the festival back to Virginia Beach in 2023 after this year’s festival was held in Washington, DC.
Source: https://uproxx.com/music/pharrell-cousin-wrongful-death-3-million-settlement/