The city of Cleveland has withdrawn a court filing that said Tamir Rice's family owed $500 for the 12-year-old boy's ambulance ride and for first aid services rendered after a city police officer shot him, reports The Plain Dealer.
Here are five things to know about the filing.
1. The document filed Tuesday notified Mr. Rice's estate it owed the city $500 for ambulance advance life support and mileage expenses to the hospital where he later died, reports The Plain Dealer.
2. In February 2015, the city originally absorbed the remainder of Mr. Rice's unpaid medical bills and closed the account after it determined the family would likely be unable to afford the bills.
3. However, the account was reopened this week when Douglas Winston, the executor of Mr. Rice's will, filed an inquiry with the city in regard to Mr. Rice's medical expenses. After learning of the estate as an alternative to Medicare, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson said the city was by law required to notify the estate of unpaid bills, according to the article.
4. Owing to the sensitivity of the case, Mayor Jackson said officials should have reconsidered issuing the billing claim. "It was a mistake in terms of us not flagging it, but it was not a mistake in terms of the legal process," said Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson in a press conference Thursday.
5. After withdrawing the claim, the city of Cleveland has agreed to pay the remainder of Mr. Rice's medical bill not covered under Medicare.