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Family, Hancock County law enforcement settle suit in Brianna Grier's death

Federal court documents say the family of Brianna Grier settled their federal lawsuit against Hancock County Sheriff Tomlyn Primus and two officers.

SPARTA, Ga. — For Brianna Grier's family, a tragic two-year legal fight is now over.

Federal court documents say this week, the family settled their federal lawsuit against Hancock County Sheriff Tomlyn Primus and two officers.

Court documents do not disclose the amount of the settlement.

13WMAZ has been reporting on this case since July 2022. That's when two deputies came to the home of Grier's parents.

On the night of July 14, 2022, Grier's family says she was having a schizophrenic episode. Her mother, Mary Grier, told WMAZ she called the Hancock County Sheriff's Office for help. 

"If I had known it was going to turn out like this. God knows I wouldn't have called to come and get her," Mary Grier said.

According to their incident report, deputies put Grier in the back of a cruiser and drove off, but they failed to secure her in the back and didn't lock the doors.

Four days later, Grier died in an Atlanta hospital from head injuries after falling into the road. But this wasn't the end, and the family wanted justice. 

In July 2022, at a press conference in Atlanta, well-known trial lawyer Ben Crump demanded the sheriff's office take full accountability.

Grier's death was followed by protest, frustration, and many unanswered questions. The Griers and their lawyers argued that the deputies were negligent and poorly trained, and violated Brianna's civil rights.

In a phone call in November 2022, Ocmulgee District Attorney T. Wright Barksdale said the deputies committed no crimes, and he declined to take the case to a grand jury.

"The Hancock County Sheriff's Office had been out to the Grier home multiple times in efforts to try to assist that family, and quite frankly it's not the sheriff's office that should be responding, it should be medical professionals," Barksdale said. 

Last May, the family filed a $100 million federal civil rights lawsuit. Briana's father, Marvin Grier, died last year, but he told us he wanted law enforcement to be trained to handle mental health crises.

Georgia's co-responders law took effect two weeks before Grier's death. It says law enforcement and mental health professionals should work together to resolve mental health crises like hers. However, it doesn't provide funding or staffing to make that happen.

Her family told us that trained mental health responders on the scene could have saved her life.

We have reached out to Sheriff Primus and the Grier family for comment and they have not responded.

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