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Sterling was shot and killed by a police officer who confronted him outside a convenience store in July 2016.
A deadly confrontation between two white police officers and Sterling, a black man, helped spur Black Lives Matter protests across the country.
The killing captured the nation in part because two videos taken by bystanders, each less than a minute long, were made public shortly after the shooting and captured the final part of Sterling’s struggle with the two officers.
No charges were brought against the officers involved.
“On behalf of the family of Alton Sterling, we are pleased to announce that we have reached a $4.5 million settlement with the City of Baton Rouge and have rejected our lawsuit against the city and others,” the attorneys said in a statement.
The statement also says the settlement will allow the city to heal and help the children finance.
The lawyers also said they were grateful for what they described as “significant policy changes” made by the city and police department.
CNN has reached out to Baton Rouge police and the city for comment on the settlement.
Mayor Pro Tem LaMont Cole told CNN affiliate WBRZ, “Anytime we can move past an issue that has been so polarizing here in our community, I think it’s a good thing.” Blane Salamoni, the officer who shot Sterling, was fired in March 2018 for violations of the use of force policy, according to leader Murphy Ball. Officer Howie Lake was suspended for three days.
Authorities said Salamouni and Lake went to the store after police received a 911 call from a man who said someone pulled a gun at him.
In May 2017, federal prosecutors found insufficient evidence to justify civil rights charges against Salamoni and Lake.
Federal prosecutors cited experts on the use of force who determined that the officers’ actions were reasonable under the circumstances—including that the two used several less-lethal techniques before using force, and that Sterling struggled with the officers and failed to follow through. Request #%s.
The Justice Department also said the evidence could not prove or refute Salamone’s assertion that Sterling was seeking a weapon.
In March 2018, Louisiana’s attorney general, Jeff Landry, declined to press charges, saying in a written report on the investigation: “We have concluded that the officers involved acted as reasonable officers under existing law and were justified in their use of force.”
A lawyer for the Sterlings said in 2018 that Salamoni rushed to Sterling, who did not threaten or reach out to the officers.
They said over and over that he asked Salamoni and Lake what he had done.
“He has never pushed an officer, or touched an officer, or kicked an officer, or done anything,” said attorney Chris Stewart. “But with that he ended up dying.”
CNN’s Chenell Terry contributed to this report.
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