Richmond City Councilmember Melvin Willis holds up a photo of Tyrell Wilson outside the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office in Martinez, Calif., on March 8, 2022. (Harika Maddala/ Bay City News)
Contra Costa County will pay $4.5 million to the family of a homeless man who was fatally shot in Danville one year ago by a police officer, civil rights attorney John Burris said Friday.
Tyrell Wilson, 33, was shot and killed March 11, 2021, by former Danville Police Officer Andrew Hall, who was convicted last year of assault with a firearm in his 2018 fatal shooting of Laudemer Arboleda.
Hall, a deputy with the county Sheriff’s Office, which contracts with Danville for police services, shot and killed Wilson near the Sycamore Valley Road overpass of Interstate Highway 680 after police received reports of Wilson throwing rocks.
Police have argued Wilson approached Hall with a knife, but Burris argued in a statement Friday that Hall could have taken steps to de-escalate the situation rather than shooting Wilson.
Burris also said Hall shouldn’t have been allowed to serve as a police officer following his shooting of Arboleda.
Burris, who represents the families of both Wilson and Arboleda, said:
“Tyrell Wilson would be alive today if the sheriff had suspended and/or fired officer Hall instead of exonerating him after the officer’s cold-blooded shooting of Laudemer Arboleda.”
The county Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the settlement with Wilson’s family last month and officially executed the agreement last week.
Wilson’s family gathered at the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office on Tuesday on what would have been Wilson’s 34th birthday to call for District Attorney Diana Becton to bring new charges against Hall.
While Wilson’s family currently lives in Texas, his father Marvin Wilson said he plans to return to Contra Costa County yearly in March until he feels there is justice for his son’s death.
Marvin Wilson said Tuesday:
“Change needs to happen.”
He added:
“Justice moves slowly, but I’m going to give it all I got until my last breath.”
Burris said in his statement that the Wilson family is “satisfied” with the settlement but continues hoping Hall will be prosecuted for fatally shooting Tyrell Wilson.
Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge Terri Mockler sentenced Hall last week to six years in prison for killing Arboleda.
Mockler said:
“The people of Contra Costa County put their trust in Mr. Hall to protect them, and he violated that trust.”
The county approved a $4.9 million settlement with Arboleda’s family last fall.
Charges regarding Wilson’s death have not yet been filed and an investigation of the shooting is ongoing.
Last modified March 11, 2022 2:38 pm
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