Pasquotank County Sheriff’s Office to pay $3 million to family of Andrew Brown Jr.

ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. (WITN) - The Pasquotank County Sheriff’s Office is set to pay the family of Andrew Brown Jr. $3 million.

The sheriff’s office tells WITN that the parties involved reached an agreement to settle the lawsuit for that amount.

The family of Andrew Brown Jr. filed a $30 million civil rights lawsuit last year after Brown was killed in April of 2021 by Pasquotank County sheriff’s deputies while they were serving drug-related warrants at his Elizabeth City home.

The killing captured national attention and sparked protests calling for justice. A protest was held as recently as April of this year to mark the one-year anniversary of Brown’s death.

We’re told that the county’s insurance policy, which was provided by the North Carolina Counties Liability and Property Joint Risk Management Agency, will pay the limits of its policy, which is $2 million.

The remaining $1 million will be paid by a special appropriation approved by the Pasquotank County Board of Commissioners.

“The insurance policy and county will make these payments to resolve any and all potential liability against the defendants and any individual officers who were or could be named as defendants in the lawsuit,” the sheriff’s office said.

The sheriff’s office said the settlement was reached as part of a judicial settlement conference conducted over several weeks last month by Magistrate Judge James Gates of the United States District Court in Raleigh.

Brown’s family was represented by attorneys Bakari Sellers, Harry Daniels, Chantel Cherry-Lassiter, Chance Lynch, and Ben Crump.

“Andrew Brown Jr. was a devoted father who wanted his children to have the things he didn’t. While no settlement could ever fill the hole his death left in their hearts, this agreement is about providing for those children’s futures, securing their education, and ensuring their dreams didn’t die with their father,” Brown’s attorneys said. “No settlement can alleviate the loss to Mr. Brown’s children. However, the Estate of Andrew Brown accepts this settlement.”

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