Burlington will pay $2M to the family of woman who died after accidentally being shot by an officer

A woman accidentally shot to death in front of her toddler by a Burlington police officer — in a scene caught on video that remains hidden from the public — will be paid $2 million as part of a wrongful death settlement that alleged a cover-up.

Autumn Steele, 34, was fatally shot in January 2015 by Officer Jesse Hill, who had been responding to a domestic disturbance and said he had fired his gun in part to fend off an attacking dog.

Burlington Police, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and the Des Moines County Attorney have refused to release more than a 12-second clip of the footage captured on Hill’s body camera during the shooting.

The family and the Burlington Hawkeye newspaper have fought for more than three years for the public release of the full video in a separate and ongoing case before the Iowa Public Information Board.

Read more: https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2018/06/18/burlington-police-shooting-autumn-steele-jesse-hill-wrongful-death-settlement/709794002/