In 2014, a man called Gregory Hill Jr. was shot to death in his own garage by two Florida sheriff deputies who were sent to his home. The police officers were called to investigate a noise complaint, as Hill was playing loud profanity-laden music in his garage, with neighbors fearing that children from the nearby elementary school would overhear the inappropriate music.

After knocking on Hill’s garage door, the police found that Hill greeted them and began to close the garage door again when he was shot to death by the police officers, dying instantly. The details of what happened are unclear, with Hill’s daughter, who was watching from the elementary school across the road, claiming that her father did not threaten the officers with a gun. On the other hand, the police officers claim that they were indeed threatened with a gun.

Evidence taken from the crime scene, however, suggests that Hill’s daughter may be telling the truth, despite her obscured view through the garage door. Hill’s body was found with a gun tucked in his back pocket, whereas a gun which was allegedly in his hand would’ve fallen onto the floor in front of him after he died. What happened in those brief few seconds between that garage door opening and closing are unknowable, it seems.

The court case

Hill’s family, of course, went to court, with his mother suing the St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara and Christopher Newman, the deputy who killed her son, for wrongful death. They were looking from between $500,000 and $11 million in damages, although a technicality in the Floridian legal system meant that Hill was seen as largely to blame for his death. You see, Hill was drunk at the time of the incident, and those who are intoxicated are largely held responsible for their drunken actions, at least according to Florida state law.

It makes sense for the family to sue the police, especially considering the enormous costs and expenses which arise when a breadwinner passes away. Whether it’s funeral costs, grocery shopping, or paying to repair a garage door, there are essential expenses in all of our lives which necessitate compensation from time to time. If you’re a widowed mother with 3 children who’s looking to pay for her kids’ upbringing or for a garage door repair, you’re going to struggle financially on your own.

The court case lasted for nearly 2 weeks in total, including 10 hours of deliberation among the jury. The jury eventually sided with Newman, finding him to be 1% at fault while Hill was 99% at fault for his own death, largely due to his own intoxication. Of course, this was devastating for Hill’s family, who needed the damages to pay for his funeral costs, which are estimated at $11,000, and pay for a garage door repair company to come out and perform garage door repair, the cost of which can vary from garage door service provider to another garage door service provider.

The settlement

However, the jury added insult to injury with the settlement money which they awarded Hill’s family, the losing party. Instead of at least agreeing to cover his $11,000 funeral costs or pay to repair the garage door and home, they instead offered the family a mere $4. Yes, you read that right… 4 dollars! That’s not enough to buy a bouquet of funeral flowers, let alone repair a garage door!

The price was broken down as 1 dollar for funeral costs, and 1 dollar for each of Hill’s three young children, who are aged 13, 10, and 7 respectively. However, because the jury also found Mascara to be 1% at fault for the garage door shooting, he received 99% of the funds – $3.96, while the Hill family received a mere 4 cents. Yes, that’s right. 1 cent for his funeral, and 1 cent for each of his children!

John Phillips, who represented the Hill family for the garage door shooting, described how baffled he was by the jury’s outcome regarding the garage door murder:

I’ve never seen anything like it. If you lose a case, give zero dollars. If you win a case, give fair value. That’s where we’re just kind of confused. Were they trying to say that we should be punished for basically bringing the suit and thus the dollar? Or were they saying that the true value of these children’s pain was a dollar?”

He went on to compare the court case to tipping a waiter at a restaurant:

[Without a tip] they may wonder if I forgot to tip, or if I was just cheap. If I leave a dollar, they’re going to know I intended to tip and this is an insult.”

The family was trying to be awarded damages for multiple things, including the obvious death of a working parent, the $11,000 funeral costs, and the costs required to repair a garage door, which was obviously damaged during the fatal incident in 2014.

Unfortunately, they will receive no money for Hill’s funeral or the inevitable garage door repair; they will be forced to fend for themselves after being awarded 4 cents in total from the jurors, who some suspect were tired of the case and simply wanted to leave without thinking about the seriousness of their actions.

Regarding it all, the police department commented:

We are pleased to see this difficult and tragic incident come to a conclusion. Deputy Newman was placed in a very difficult situation, and like so many fellow law enforcement officers must do every day, he made the best decision he could for the safety of his partner, himself, and the public given the circumstances he faced. We appreciate the jury’s time and understanding and wish everyone involved in this case the best as they move forward.”

The aftermath

Needless to say, the Hill family have been devastated by the outcome of this story, as they struggle to pay for the funeral costs and expenses which have arisen due to their father figure’s fatal shooting beside his garage door. Not only was the Hills’ garage door damaged by bullets in the attack, prompting the need to repair a garage door; chemical agents used by the officers also contaminated the toys of the children and made them unsafe to play with.

However, despite the humiliating verdict which was arrived at in court, the family has seen an outpouring of love from their local community. A GoFundMe page was recently created, seeking justice for the Hill family and assisting them through their difficult time of bereavement and moving on. So far, the GoFundMe page has amassed over $104,000 in total, showing us that great things can happen when communities come together.

When the goal of $150,000 is reached, the Hill finally will undoubtedly find it much easier to move on with their lives and invest in their futures. Whether it’s putting money away for school education or hiring a garage door repair company to fix their damaged garage door, the money that the GoFundMe page has raised will certainly be a huge help.

According to the GoFundMe page’s description, John Phillips, the attorney for the family who was appalled by the court case’s verdict, plans to use the money to ease the suffering of the family and make their future much easier, helping them to invest in schools, trust funds, and garage door repair. He explains:

The family attorney, John Phillips, will place any and all funds in an account, reserved for the children of Greg Hill and ensure that the funds are protected, that the family home is repaired or restored and that the children’s needs are taken care of. Should they be necessary, some funds may be reserved for the court costs in this matter. A full accounting will be provided to the family and the family and legal team are working together to have a full plan for the best distribution of all funds.”

The bottom line

This terrible event has shocked people from all over the country, including those in the garage door community such as ourselves. Whenever we turn up to perform a garage door repair or garage door installation, we never envision that it could end up being involved in a fatal shooting.