CHARLOTTE - The family of an unarmed teenager shot and killed during a traffic stop more than two years ago has settled a federal lawsuit against the police officer who shot him for $2.4 million, attorneys for his family said Thursday.

The settlement comes just over two months after federal Judge Paul Maloney declined to dismiss the lawsuit by Deven Guilford's parents against Eaton County Sgt. Jonathan Frost, allowing two claims of excessive force against Frost to proceed.

Deven's father said the decision to settle was "emotional" and "difficult." He said the family acted on the advice of their attorneys, but still struggles with finding closure over the death of their son.

"The life we had is no more," Brian Guilford said Thursday. "I don't think it's something people can understand unless they've lost a child."

The settlement is with Frost. The Guilford family agreed to dismiss Eaton County from the lawsuit in January, though Eaton County Controller John Fuentes said the county would continue to pay for Frost's legal expenses, as well as any settlement or judgement that could be awarded if the case went to trial.

"Ending this matter, will hopefully allow the family to mourn their loss privately and not continue to be faced with their pain publicly through the course of a protracted legal battle," Fuentes said in a statement.

Frost is still employed with the sheriff's office.

Related:How does the Guilford family's $2.4M compare to other police settlements?

The settlement requires that the lawsuit be dismissed "with prejudice" and that the Guilford family sign a general release of liability preventing any further claims, James Dyer, an attorney for Eaton County and Frost said in a statement after the settlement was announced.

"We know no settlement amount will bring back their son, but like the Guilford family, Jon thinks about and prays for Deven Guilford every day," Dyer said. "This settlement will at least help avoid a long, protracted and painful legal battle for everyone involved."

Eaton County Sheriff Tom Reich released a statement regarding the settlement Thursday afternoon.

“This has been a tragedy for everyone involved," Reich said. "Our hearts go out to them and we know no amount of money can replace their loss.”

The county is insured through the Michigan Municipal Risk Management Authority, a self-insurance pool for public agencies, according to Fuentes. It is obligated to pay the first $150,000 of the cost of defending a lawsuit through a system known as "self-insurance retention." Coverage is capped at $15 million per incident, he said.

Brian Guilford said he wishes "no harm" against Frost, saying it "would not help my soul one bit," and that he prays for healing for all involved.

He said the family hoped the lawsuit would force the sheriff's department to change its policies and take a different approach to policing. He's not confident the family was able to accomplish that.

His family wants to heal, he added, but hasn't yet. The long legal battle was wearing on them, and they've had very few "good days" since Deven died. Attorneys had told the family the lawsuit could continue for several more years before a trial.

"I think we did the right thing," he said through tears. "We do feel some closure, but it's hard to say how much closure you feel, because today is so emotional. I just pray somehow law enforcement will take a different approach."

Cynthia Heenan, an attorney for the Guilford family, cited "ambiguous current law" that might prompt a judge to instruct a jury "to focus only on whether Frost was reasonably in fear for his life when he shot Guilford..." and not on any of his actions prior to the shooting.

"Although there is substantial evidence which indicates that Frost's version of the events was not accurate and even his own memory is limited, we faced the possibility that a majority of the randomly selected jurors might choose to ignore the evidence in order to find for Frost," Heenan said.

The federal judge, Maloney, raised questions about what he described as inconsistencies in Frost's version of what happened after Deven Guilford got off the ground and charged at him. He added that a jury could find some of what Frost says occurred "almost inconceivable."

"For someone who claims he was being 'pummeled' while lying on the ground, it remains curious that there were relatively few injuries to his face and almost no injuries to the back of his head," Maloney wrote. "...Moreover, Guilford had not a single bruise or cut to his hands — almost inconceivable, a jury could conclude, if he was 'pummeling' Frost to the point where he feared he would lose consciousness."

Brian Guilford said the family was thankful for Maloney's ruling.

"Ultimately, (Frost) knows he killed a very innocent, fun-loving, non-threatening teenage boy. He got killed because he made a police officer mad. No one will ever convince me Frost was afraid when he pulled Deven out of his car. What we really hold on to is Judge Maloney's ruling and his opinion."

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Guilford, who was 17 when he was killed, was pulled over for flashing his high beams at Frost. The sergeant was driving a new patrol vehicle and at least one other driver had complained that Frost's headlights were particularly bright, according to an investigation by Michigan State Police, who reviewed the shooting.

Guilford refused to give Frost his driver's license, registration and proof of insurance. Frost declined requests from Guilford for his badge number.

Frost pulled Guilford from the vehicle and ordered him to lay on his stomach next to his vehicle. When Guilford would not put both his hands behind his back as he was lying on his stomach as Frost was attempting to handcuff him, Frost fired his stun gun into Guilford.

Video shows Guilford getting off the ground after the stun gun was fired. That is the last image of the incident captured. Frost's vehicle did not have a dash cam, according to the sheriff's office.

Guilford's cell phone, which was lying on the ground, captured some sound of the rest of the incident because the teen was recording the traffic stopon his cell phone.

The final moments of the traffic stop included an altercation that ended in a snow-filled ditch. Guilford was shot seven times.

According to Frost's account, he and Guilford moved about 25 feet from the car to the ditch, where Guilford pinned Frost down and punched the sergeant 10 times before Frost started to fire the first of seven gunshots.

Frost has said he was bleeding, losing consciousness and feared for his life so he fired his weapon at Guilford.

In June of 2015 Eaton County Prosecutor Doug Lloyd ruled the shooting of Guilford was justifiable, saying Frost believed he needed to defend himself.

In a statement released in June, the Guilford family said they have "serious concerns about whether the officer used unreasonable force ... under the circumstances."

Contact Rachel Greco at (517) 528-2075 or rgreco@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @GrecoatLSJ.