The Denver City Council passed two resolutions Monday that approve paying more than $750,000 to settle liability claims brought against city agencies, including the Denver Police Department.

The first resolution authorized paying $450,000 to the estate of JaLonte ‘Jojo’ Jones, who died in 2020. The 18-year-old bled to death as a Denver police officer stood by and did not provide him with any medical aid or “words of comfort,” records showed, despite Jones begging for help.

Police were responding to reports of gunfire at an apartment complex in southeast Denver on Sept. 7 of that year when a man flagged them down and directed them to Jones. Former Denver police officer DeWayne Rodgers watched Jones and asked him questions but took no steps to save his life.

Rodgers was ultimately fired for failing to give Jones first aid and for failing to comply with the city’s vaccine mandate. A disciplinary letter concluded Rodgers violated police department rules, that he never once touched the victim, and never offered Jones “words of comfort.” Ofc. David Clough, who also responded to the shooting, resigned.

Body camera footage showed Jones telling officers that he was dying and that he could not breath, at one point amid their questioning saying: “Oh my god. Help me.”

Denver police later arrested DeAndre Horton for Jones’ assault, who pleaded guilty to first degree assault with extreme indifference and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

The family’s attorney, Ciara Anderson, said Jones’ loved ones lost a fiancé, a son, a brother and a nephew. His fiancé is now raising their daughter, who was not yet born at the time of Jones’ death, as a single mother. His daughter will not get to meet her father and is growing up without him, Anderson said, calling his death a profound loss.

Jones’ parents lost “their son, their baby,” as well, she said.

“There is no amount of money that is really going to bring what they’ve lost back, but I think as far as a resolution, this offers some sense of finality in this chapter,” she said.

Anderson reiterated that Rodgers did not provide Jones with basic medical care, did not apply a tourniquet, did not attempt to locate Jones’ gunshot wound, did not ask other officers if they had a tourniquet available to use, and did not apply pressure to Jones’ wound as an alternative to a tourniquet. Anderson commended the city for firing the officer for the “callous inhumanity that he showed” to Jones, she said.

“Losing someone in a way that they did, I don’t think that there’s ever closure,” she said.

Jerome Jones, JaLonte’s father, said no amount of money will bring his son back. He still shakes when he speaks about JaLonte’s death, he said, and choked up while thinking about JaLonte fighting for his life as officers stood by.

“That hurts my soul, watching my son leave us in that manner. The image will always be in my mind,” he said.

JaLonte was a protective older brother, loved to make people laugh, had a passion for music and was a talented football player, Jerome said. Some of his favorite memories with JaLonte are from his son’s middle school football games, he said, when Jerome would run along the sideline, cheering on his son as he ran the ball.

He, JaLonte and JaLonte’s brother were working together to start a nonprofit that would mentor at-risk young people, Jerome said. Jerome and JaLonte’s brother are continuing work on the organization, Troubled Boys Loving Mothers, to make sure JaLonte did not die in vain, he said. The organization is based in Texas where Jerome lives.

“I am tired of the gun violence. I am scared for my other babies. He is truly missed,” Jerome said.

In a separate resolution, the city council authorized another liability claim settlement of $310,000, after the family of a 14-year-old boy filed civil action against the transportation department.

The family’s lawsuit alleged that in 2020 city crews left milling spikes in a Denver County street, which caused the boy to flip over his bike handlebars and crash face-first onto an unfinished roadway. The street was undergoing a mill and overlay project, but was not blocked off or marked with signage, according to the complaint.

The lawsuit stated his injuries were so severe he required facial surgery and treatment totaling $160,000, and that his medical expenses were ongoing.