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Michigan settles lawsuit over teen's death for $12 million

The agreement was filed Friday in federal court, months after Mark Bessner was sentenced to at least five years in prison for involuntary manslaughter.

Credit: AP

FILE - In this April 10, 2019, file photo, former Michigan state Trooper Mark Bessner listens to Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Matthew Penney deliver his opening statement in Bessner's trial, in Detroit. Bessner is facing a prison sentence for involuntary manslaughter for firing a Taser at a Detroit teenager who crashed an all-terrain vehicle and died. He's scheduled to return to court, Monday, May 13 for his sentence. (Clarence Tabb Jr./Detroit News via AP, File)

DETROIT — The family of a Detroit teenager who crashed an all-terrain vehicle and died after he was shot with a Taser has reached a $12 million settlement in a lawsuit against state troopers.

The agreement was filed Friday in federal court, months after Mark Bessner was sentenced to at least five years in prison for involuntary manslaughter.

Bessner and a partner were patrolling a Detroit neighborhood in 2017 when Damon Grimes drove an all-terrain vehicle near their car. Bessner said he fired a Taser because he believed Grimes had a gun. The teen didn't have a weapon.

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