Jury awards $3M to family in 2011 Ferguson stun gun death

ST. LOUIS — A federal jury has awarded $3 million to the family of a naked, unarmed black man who died in 2011 after police in Ferguson, Missouri, used a stun gun on him.

Jason Moore’s mother, wife and son alleged in the lawsuit the St. Louis suburb’s police force used excessive force and violated Moore’s civil rights. The lawsuit was filed in the wake of 2014 fatal police shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown that thrust Ferguson into the spotlight over police treatment of minorities.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported the jury Friday awarded $3 million to Moore’s family.

Attorneys for Ferguson and the police said Moore was refusing to comply with an officer’s orders when the officer used the stun gun. They confirmed the verdict amount but declined additional comment.

Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com