Sallie Chapman, the mother of William Chapman, will receive $300,000 while Chapman's father will get close to $150,000. Another part of the settlement will go to attorney fees and the rest will be split between seven of William Chapman's half-siblings.
Rankin was convicted on a manslaughter charge this year and sentenced to spend only two years and six months behind bars for shooting the 18-year-old, who was unarmed in the parking lot of Wal-Mart off Frederick Blvd. He shot Chapman in the face and chest outside a Walmart store last year, after a security guard reported a theft from the store.
No video exists of the killing that took place on April 22, 2015, and testimony in the criminal case conflicted on the details, but most witnesses said Chapman had his hands up. Prosecutor Stephanie Morales said the officer could have used non-deadly force.
His family now plans to sue Walmart.
This was not the first fatal shooting for Rankin. The Guardian reported that four years before his confrontation with Chapman, Rankin was cleared of wrongdoing when he fired 11 times at an unarmed burglary suspect, Kirill Denyakin. In that incident, Rankin claimed the man charged at him while reaching into his waistband with his hands.
Trial prosecutors were barred by the judge from telling the jury about Denyakin. When Rankin was indicted on the second shooting, he was fired from Portsmouth police.