The Los Angeles Times is reporting that the parents of Mitrice Richardson have reached a tentative agreement to settle their lawsuits against the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for $900,000, according to sources with knowledge of the settlement.
The missing 24-year-old was found dead almost a year after being released from the Los Angeles County sheriff's Malibu station. Richardson, who was described by witnesses as behaving erratically, was released around midnight without her cellphone, wallet or car keys. Her body was found a year later.
During a memorial service at the site where Richardson's body was found, her mother found the girl's finger bone, which led to allegations of mishandling of the woman's remains. The Los Angeles Country coroner said that police confiscated the remains before he had a chance to conduct an investigation at the site.
It is being reported that her parents will receive $900,000, which they will split if they agree to the settlement. Richardson's father, Michael Richardson, still wants the police to find out who murdered his daughter.
So $900,000 for releasing a mentally ill woman into the darkness with no keys, purse or wallet and bumbling the murder investigation? Richardson's parents must really want to put an end to this, because that sounds low to us for the level of negligence displayed by the police on so many levels.
The blatant disregard for this young woman's safety, life and even her remains is unconscionable. We want to know what measures are being put into place to prevent a tragedy like this from happening again.
Read more at the Los Angeles Times.
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