‘Not a Shred of Accountability’: Ronald Greene’s Mother Unleashes Furious Warning After Cops Avoid Prison in Beating Death. Now, Louisiana Quietly Agrees to Multi-Million Dollar Payout
Louisiana officials have agreed to pay $4.85 million to the daughter of Ronald Greene, a Black man who died during a violent encounter with five white state troopers after a traffic stop in Monroe, Louisiana, in 2019.
The tentative settlement reached on Tuesday, first reported by AP News, would end a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Tayla Greene in 2021 after AP obtained police video showing Louisiana State Police officers relentlessly punching, kicking and tasing Ronald Greene.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill confirmed the settlement on Wednesday, saying:
“I can confirm that we reached an agreement to resolve outstanding claims in civil litigation against the State arising from the incident involving Ronald Greene. The State agreed that it was time to end this litigation, which arose under the prior administration, and put this matter behind us.”
The Union Parish Sheriff’s Office will pay another $50,000 to Greene’s family, a source told Fox8 in New Orleans.
The settlement, still subject to approval by the Louisiana Legislature, is the last legal matter remaining after the horrific beat-down of Greene in May 2019 following a high-speed chase and crash after an attempted traffic stop in Union Parish.
‘I’m Your Brother!’: Bodycam Video Sparked National Outrage
The video showed officers swarming Greene as he appeared to raise his hands, plead for mercy and wail, “I’m your brother! I’m scared!” before he was brutalized.
Trooper Chris Hollingsworth jolted Greene, who was unarmed and not resisting, with his stun gun before he could get out of his car, then yanked him to the ground. As other officers tased Greene, put him in a chokehold, pepper-sprayed and beat him, Hollingsworth hit him in the head repeatedly with a flashlight.
Master Trooper Kory York was seen on bodycam video dragging Greene by the leg shackles and holding him prone on the roadside, stepping on his back as his bloodied face was pressed into the asphalt.
Hollingsworth’s body camera picked up him telling another officer on the phone after the arrest, “I beat the ever-living f— out of him, choked him and everything else trying to get him under control. … All of a sudden he just went limp. … I thought he was dead.”
After Greene, who was left in the prone position that impeded his breathing for nine minutes, appeared unresponsive, the officers reportedly failed to render medical aid, and he died on the way to the hospital.
Cover-Up Claims and Criminal Cases Fell Apart
State police refused to release footage of the arrest for two years, initially claiming Greene had died after crashing into a tree. A doctor who treated him at the hospital said, based on his injuries, that the officers’ story “does not add up.”
After the damning police video was released, the five troopers involved faced state and federal criminal charges ranging from obstruction to negligent homicide, but last year, federal prosecutors decided not to file any charges.
York, who initially faced the most serious felony charges, including negligent homicide and malfeasance, entered a no-contest plea to eight counts of simple battery — a misdemeanor — and received a six-month suspended sentence, a $1,000 fine, and 160 hours of community service, according to a WRKF review of court records. He was allowed to retire in August 2024.
Only one other officer, Chris Harper, was convicted of a state charge, for simple battery, pleading no contest in court in Union Parish, reported WVLA in Baton Rouge. His original sentence of six months in prison was reduced to unsupervised probation.
Hollingsworth died in a single-vehicle car crash into a guardrail in September 2020, six days later, after learning he would be fired for his role in Greene’s death.
At the time the federal charges were dropped in January 2025, Mona Hardin, Greene’s mother, lamented that there would never be justice for her son.
“There’ll be no satisfaction,” she told WVLA. “There’ll be no closure. But for my son to be killed the way he was tortured or handcuffed and shackled, everyone needs to look at those details,” she said.
DOJ Findings Later Reversed Under Trump Administration
Last September, Hardin posted on Facebook:
“OVER 6 YEARS NO Jail-Time Not A SHRED OF ACCOUNTABILITY FOR LOUISIANA STATE TROOPERS MURDERING motorist (#JusticeForRonaldGreene )!! Politicians & All Big Brass covering it up! You self entitled ARE NOT AS untouchable as you think you are! Ronnie’s Not here but WE WHO LOVED HIM DEEPLY ARE!!… AND NO ONES ASLEEP ON THIS ONE!!”
Greene’s death sparked national outrage, among several beatings of Black men by Louisiana troopers that led to a three-year civil rights investigation by the U.S. Justice Department under President Joe Biden.
The DOJ published a report in January 2025 concluding that the Louisiana State Police had engaged in a “pattern or practice” of excessive force. This included the unjustified use of tasers, the escalation of minor incidents, and the use of force against individuals who did not pose a threat. Furthermore, investigators identified longstanding issues with supervision and underreporting of incidents involving the use of force.
While the LSP had already implemented some reforms, such as revising its use-of-force policy, establishing a Force Investigation Unit, and updating training, the report found that further action was necessary to address the excessive force issues.
Several months later, the DOJ under President Donald Trump rescinded these findings, AP reported.