The family of Andrew Brown Jr. celebrates one small step toward justice. They have agreed to a $3 million settlement after their loved one was shot and killed in his car by sheriff’s deputies in North Carolina.

AP News reports that Brown was killed in April 2021 when Pasquotank County Sheriff’s deputies surrounded his vehicle. Ultimately, they fired several shots into the car as he attempted to back away.

Authorities were initially at his home to serve a warrant.

A civil rights lawsuit filed by the family in 2021 said that Brown died due to officers showing “intentional and reckless disregard of his life.”

During a news conference last year, District Attorney Andrew Womble said that Brown used his vehicle as a “deadly weapon,” thus prompting deputies to believe that deadly force was necessary. Lawyers for the Brown family state that the shooting was unjustified because he was only attempting to drive away.

Further evidence provided through body camera footage showed Brown sitting in his car with his hands placed on the steering wheel as officers fired the first shots.

The $3 million settlement was overseen by a federal magistrate in the U.S. District Court located in Raleigh, North Carolina.

It was approved by the Pasquotank County Board of Commissioners and includes a special $1 million appropriation as well as $2 million from the county’s insurance policy.

According to the sheriff’s office, this is the limit of the policy supplied by the North Carolina Counties Liabilities Pool.

Funds will be distributed to Brown’s children as they are the heirs of his estate.

“Andrew Brown Jr. was a devoted father who wanted his children to have the things he didn’t,” said the family attorneys in a statement. “While no settlement could ever fill the hole his death left in their hearts, this agreement is about providing for those children’s futures, securing their education and ensuring their dreams didn’t die with their father.”