$1.5 million and silence among terms of deal in teen’s death

Under the terms of a $1.5 million settlement with Baltimore County, the mother of a teenage boy who died after an altercation with an off-duty county police officer will get paid in installments over 18 years — and can’t talk about it.

After an initial payment of $550,000, the county will pay Chris Brown, the mother of Christopher Brown, 17 annual payments of $55,882 beginning in 2017, according to legal documents released by the county.

The settlement stipulates that, if approached by anyone about the terms, including the news media, Brown and her attorney will “simply state that: ‘the matter has been fully resolved to the satisfaction of all parties.’ ”

The Randallstown 17-year-old died of asphyxiation after being chased by off-duty Officer James Laboard, who allegedly placed him in a chokehold after a group of kids threw rocks at his home. Brown’s death was ruled a homicide.

A Baltimore County jury acquitted Laboard of manslaughter charges in 2013. Laboard and the county deny any wrongdoing or liability in the settlement agreement.

While the agreement states that the parties must keep “strictly confidential” the terms of the settlement, the county released it under the Maryland Public Information Act.

“In the agreements, the parties agree not to proactively disclose information about the settlements, but the government has to respond to each PIA request by analyzing the request against the exceptions contained in the statute,” County Attorney Mike Field said in an email.

When the federal lawsuit was first filed, it named four defendants: Laboard, Police Chief Jim Johnson, Baltimore County and the county Police Department. However, Johnson and the Police Department were later dropped from the lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleged that Christopher Brown’s civil rights were violated and that the county has contributed to a “culture of silence and dishonesty concerning police misconduct.”