The City of Cleveland is now saying the Tamir Rice family was never billed for emergency services the 12-year-old received after he was fatally shot by Cleveland police in 2014 .
Mayor Frank Jackson apologized to the family Thursday and told the media that the filing was made as part of a routine procedure but the bill was not intended to be sent to the Rice family.
Jackson: It wasn't a mistake, it was a mistake in terms of us not flagging it, but it was not a mistake in terms of the legal process.
— Homa Bash (@HomaBash) February 11, 2016
He said the family was never billed and the claim was closed.
Mayor Jackson says none of this was intentional. Calls this general policy. @WEWS pic.twitter.com/USCU32ifdD
— Tara Molina (@TaraMolinaTV) February 11, 2016
This comes after court documents showed the city filed a claim, saying the Rice family was past due $500 for emergency services Tamir received after the shooting.
On the ambulance invoice, Rice was charged $450 for ambulance advance life support and $50 for mileage, totaling $500.
The claim attracted attention from national news stations across the country, as well as Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton.
Asking Tamir's family to pay for his ambulance is heartless. Cleveland should drop this fee. https://t.co/Gq8twYI1QD -H
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) February 11, 2016
Becky-Lee Caraballo, an EMS billing manager for the City of Cleveland, stated in an affidavit that the Tamir Rice estate "has failed to pay for the goods and/or services as agreed upon delineated in the invoices, accounting, and/or ledger statements."
Rice family attorney Subodh Chandra issued this statement to newsnet5.com after the release of the documents:
The callousness, insensitivity, and poor judgment required for the city to send a bill after its own police officers killed a 12-year-old child is breathtaking. This adds insult to homicide.