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Family Of Stephon Clark Files Claim Against City of Sacramento

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — More fallout from a tragic police shooting, as the family of Stephon Clark vows to make the city pay.

The family recently filed a multi-million dollar wrongful death claim against the City of Sacramento. Clark's family has been advised not to talk about the claim yet, but the public is weighing in.

Some say the city should pay up, while others say the asking price is a bit excessive.

RELATED: Timeline Of Events Following Stephon Clark Shooting

Just shy of six months after Sacramento Police shot and killed 22-year-old Stephon Clark in the backyard of his grandmother's South Sacramento home, Clark's family filed a wrongful death claim against the City of Sacramento for more than $15 million.

"They deserve it. He had children to take care of. They just took him away from his children," said South Sacramento resident Sabrina Simons.

Simons said she can sympathize with Clark's family.

"Police killed my dad when I was 9 and I won a lawsuit."

MORE: Stephon Clark news

According to the City of Sacramento, the claim, which is a precursor to a formal lawsuit, seeks damages for nine separate allegations including negligence and wrongful death.

Another South Sacramento resident says while what happened to Clark was tragic, but he doesn't believe the family should get paid because of it.

"They should get some help, but not any kind of money," said Seth Rahman.

Tanya Faison with Black Lives Matter Sacramento said, "It should be $100 million. I mean anyone that says it's excessive does not value life."

More than 20 shots were fired at Clark the night he was killed as officers mistook a cellphone for a gun. His death sparked national attention and outrage and became a focus for activists shining a light on police killings of unarmed black men across the country.

"I hope that they get every cent that they're asking for. I do think that we need more than that though. I think that in order for us to get actual justice, we need charges to be filed, we need officers to be fired from their jobs and they need to be punished like they're regular citizens for murdering somebody," said Faison.

Sacramento police are still investigating the shooting death of Clark and have yet to hand the case over to the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office.

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