SALT LAKE CITY — Newly unsealed court documents claim the mother of Darrien Hunt, who was shot and killed by Saratoga Springs police, had agreed to a $900,000 settlement over her son’s death.
However, her new attorney insists in his own court filing that she “never accepted, confirmed, or consented to a final settlement.”
U.S. District Court Judge Tena Campbell ordered the release of sealed documents detailing the alleged settlement agreement between Susan Hunt and Saratoga Springs. The city is asking the judge to force Hunt to accept a $900,000 settlement offer over the 2014 shooting of her son, who was killed by two officers responding to a report of a man with a sword walking down a street. Hunt’s family says he was cosplaying, the sword was a part of the costume and he was no threat.
The Utah County Attorney ruled the shooting justified. The Hunt family sued for $2 million, alleging a violation of Darrien’s civil rights.
In the court documents, Hunt’s former lawyer, Robert Sykes, said she accepted the settlement offer from Saratoga Springs in a recorded phone conversation as well as an email. On the one-year anniversary of her son’s death, Hunt told reporters she had rejected the settlement offer and a requirement that she not comment on it. She fired Sykes and hired a new lawyer.
Read Sykes’ court filing here:
