JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The City of Jacksonville will pay $200,000 to the family of Jamee Johnson, the 22-year-old Florida A&M University student shot by Jacksonville Sheriff's Officer Josue Garriga in 2019.
Johnson was pulled over for a seatbelt violation on Dec. 14, 2019. Bodycam footage showed Johnson told police he had a Glock 26 concealed in his jacket. After a struggle, Garriga is seen shooting him four times; video showed Johnson beg for his life. Garriga said Johnson was trying to grab his gun.
READ MORE: What bodycam footage showed
In March 2021, Johnson's family brought the lawsuit against the city, Mike Williams, who was sheriff at the time, and Garriga.
Though a team of experts led by State Attorney Melissa Nelson found Garriga's actions were "justified," Johnson's family sought to challenge Garriga's account of what happened that night. The family's attorney said the bodycam video of the shooting did not show Johnson reaching for a weapon, as Garriga said he had. The lawsuit also contested that the bullet trajectory described in Johnson's autopsy contradicted Garriga's story.
As first reported by the Jacksonville Tributary, now that the city has settled in the case, there will be no trial to determine if Johnson's family was right or wrong about what happened during the fatal traffic stop.
The settlement does not admit any wrongdoing by Garriga. Documents show the city decided to settle because of the "uncertainty" of a trial.
RELATED: What the lawsuit says
Garriga under fire
The settlement comes after Garriga ended up under public scrutiny once again.
In April 2023, he was one of the gang-unit officers exposed for taking part in a group chat full of biased messages. An internal investigation cleared the officers involved. Garriga, who is Black and Hispanic, lamented that Johnson should not have been given attention after his death. After the NFL recognized his death, Garriga engaged in a conversation with Officer Matt Bolen and Officer Doug Howell disparaging the decision, calling Johnson a "clown" who was only recognized because he was Black.
Then, again, his name returned to headlines as recently as early October. He was one of the officers involved in the brutal arrest of Le'Keian Woods on Sept. 29, which was filmed by witnesses whose videos went viral. In the days that followed, JSO revealed Garriga was one of five officers involved in the incident.
The Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters released the following statement Thursday morning on the city's settlement:
“On December 19, 2019, Jamee Johnson was killed while attempting to take the life of a member of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. That incident was fully investigated by the State Attorney’s Office for the Fourth Judicial Circuit of Florida. The State Attorney Office’s independently determined that our officer lawfully and justifiably used deadly force in defense of his own life.
A civil lawsuit was later filed, and I was disappointed to learn that the agency’s attorneys from Office of General Council for the City of Jacksonville entered into a settlement agreement without my knowledge or consultation. City Risk Management also made the determination on settlement value, once again without my knowledge or consent.
If properly consulted by representative counsel, my request would have been to take the case before a jury and not settle. JSO maintains that our officer’s actions constituted legally permissible use of force in defense of his own life. While JSO is bound by this settlement agreement, I am deeply disappointed by the outcome of this litigation and JSO’s lack of proper notification by our attorneys.”
