City rejects settlement to Sanders family

AUSTIN (KXAN) - More than a year after a former Austin police officer shot and killed 18-year-old Nathaniel Sanders, the Austin City Council will not pay the family of Sanders $750,000.

The vote continues a pending lawsuit against the former officer, Leonardo Quintana, who was fired from the force by Police Chief Art Acevevedo after a DWI arrest.

Originally, the city of Austin was part of the lawsuit but was later dropped from the suit. Now the lawsuit will go forward with the city liable for any damages awarded to the Sanders Family.

Council member Chris Riley offered an alternative motion that would have shrunk the settlement to $500k. That proposal drew gasps from the large crowd that gathered to watch the council discuss the issue. Local NAACP President Nelson Linder quickly stormed out of the council chambers, clearly disgusted.

"You want to pick a fight, you got one now, you got one now," said a furious Linder while he stood in the foyer at city hall in front of a mob of media. "We got the Department of Justice, we got the D.A.'s office. We're gonna get these sons of you know what's."

Meanwhile, inside council chambers Riley's motion failed with only he and Council Member Randi Shade voting for the change.

Mayor Lee Leffingwell, Mayor Pro Tem Mike Martinez, Council Member Chris Riley and Randi Shade voted against the settlement.

Council members Sheryl Cole, Bill Spelman and Laura Morrison voted for the settlement.  

Thursday night, there was emotional reaction on all sides of this issue.

"This has been a very, very difficult case- and I am disappointed that we will still have to potentially deal with it," said Sheryl Cole, who supported the settlement.

The attorney for the Sanders family, Adam Loewy, said the family will pursue the case, but declined to comment further after the council's vote.

"To us, it was never about the money- it was about the community need to have a jury of our peers decide this case. $750, $500k- we would not have been for that compromise either," said Wayne Vincent, President of the Austin Police Association.