By John Simerman, Andrea Gallo and James Finn
The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate
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BATON ROUGE, La. — Almost seven years to the day after the death of Ronald Greene during an arrest by Louisiana State Police, the agency agreed Tuesday to pay $4.8 million to settle a wrongful death case, said a source familiar with the negotiations.
Police body camera videos of Greene’s death prompted federal investigations, state legislative inquiries and charges against some of the troopers involved. The videos showed a group of White troopers beating and dragging Greene, who was Black, as he cried out: “‘I’m scared!”
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Tuesday’s settlement stemmed from a federal civil complaint Greene’s family initially filed in 2020, the year after his death. The petition was paused for several years as the U.S. Department of Justice weighed bringing federal criminal charges against troopers and while a bevy of other investigations into his death unfolded.
But other state and federal probes sputtered, and the family reopened the lawsuit in February of last year. Five troopers and a Union Parish Sheriff’s Office deputy were named as defendants in the family’s civil complaint.
Louisiana State Police agreed to pay $4.8 million to settle the case, the source said, specifically claims involving troopers John Clary, Dakota DeMoss, Kory York and Chris Hollingsworth, who has since died.
The settlement is subject to agreement from the joint legislative budget committee.
The settlement also named Christopher Harpin, a former Union Parish deputy, making him responsible for $50,000 in the deal.
State Police spokesperson Lt. Kate Stegall said Tuesday evening that the agency “is unable to discuss the terms of the settlement at this time, as the process has not yet been finalized.”
All of the troopers named in the settlement negotiations had previously been criminally charged in the case, though some had their charges dropped.
York, a former Master Trooper who faced the most serious charges, pleaded no contest to misdemeanor battery in Greene’s death and agreed to testify in a plea deal. He was originally charged with negligent homicide and malfeasance. York was shown on body camera video dragging Greene’s body by the ankles and holding him prone on the roadside shortly before he died.
DeMoss was initially charged with obstruction in the case for turning off his body camera audio on the night of Green’s death, but the indictment was later quashed. Clary was also originally charged with malfeasance of office and obstruction of justice, but the charges were later dropped.
Hollingsworth died in a car crash the same day he was told he would be fired over his role in Greene’s death.
Harpin pleaded no contest in 2025 to a misdemeanor simple battery charge related to Greene’s death.
In January 2025, federal prosecutors told Greene’s family they would not file criminal charges against the troopers. A separate bid by the local district attorney to bring state criminal charges also flailed, with none of the cops receiving time behind bars.
Findings of a three-year “pattern or practice” probe by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, which included a determination that State Police “engage in a statewide pattern of using excessive force,” were also scrapped after President Donald Trump took office and abandoned such investigations nationwide.
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