UNION COUNTY, N.C. — Union County has agreed to pay $3.25 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the family of Malcolm Staton, a 30-year-old father who was shot and killed by a sheriff's deputy at a gas station in 2022.

A federal judge approved the settlement Monday, according to family attorney Shean Williams of The Cochran Firm. The settlement includes $2,437,500 for Staton's estate and $812,500 for Cree Faulkner, his girlfriend who was in the car during the shooting.

Staton was killed on March 15, 2022, in a gas station parking lot as he attempted to navigate around several deputies' vehicles. Investigators said that Staton was killed during a traffic stop for a drug search . According to Staton's family and surveillance video from security cameras at the gas station, he never posed a r

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