text: Mike Evans is staying true to his word to "help a lot of people" after signing an extension with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers earlier this year. 
   
   On Saturday, he donated $11,000 to the family of Gregory Hill, who was shot and killed by a St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office deputy in 2014. 
   
   Hill's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit, and after a two-week trial in May, a jury ruled in favor of the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office, saying Hill was 99 percent responsible for his death and the department 1 percent responsible. The jury awarded the family $4, $1 for each of Hill's three children and $1 for funeral expenses. The family, however, received just 4 cents (1 percent of the $4 award). 
   
   Evans asked how he could help the family in a tweet Saturday and was directed to a GoFundMe page that was created after the verdict. Evans' donation helped push the total raised to nearly $100,000. 
   
   When the 24-year-old wide receiver signed his five-year, $82 million extension in March, Evans said of his charity plans, "It's hard to put into words. With my actions you'll see it." Last year, Evans and his wife, Ashli, also founded the Mike Evans Family Foundation, which gives scholarships to high school graduates coming from low-income situations and provides help to women and their families who are victims of domestic violence. 
   
   Gregory Hill was 30 when he was shot and killed by an officer responding to a complaint about loud music in 2014. After officers knocked on his garage and front doors, Hill opened his garage door. He was shot when he lowered the garage door and police alleged that Hill pointed a gun at the deputies. An unloaded gun was found in his pocket and tests revealed that his blood alcohol content was 0.40. ||||| CLOSE The family of Gregory Hill Jr., who was killed by a St. Lucie County deputy in January 2014, has filed a lawsuit. PTCN 
   
   Gregory Hill Jr. (Photo: FILE PHOTO) 
   
   FORT PIERCE — A federal court jury found the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office partially liable in the January 2014 fatal shooting of Gregory Hill Jr. in the garage of his home, but damages awarded to Hill’s family amount to 4 cents. 
   
   After four days of testimony, evidence and attorneys’ arguments, the jury deliberated about 10 hours before finding on Thursday that St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara, in his official capacity, was negligent but was only 1 percent liable. 
   
   More: Gregory Hill Jr. case: Jury confused by instructions in 4-cent award to family 
   
   The jury found that Hill, who was 30, “was under the influence of alcoholic beverages to the extent that his normal faculties were impaired and that as a result of the influence of such alcoholic beverage,” he was 99 percent liable for the “incident and his resulting injuries,” according to the verdict form. 
   
   Deputy Christopher Newman was found not liable. 
   
   More:Trial to start in case against St. Lucie deputy 
   
   The jury awarded $4 in damages — $1 to Hill’s mother, Viola Bryant, for funeral expenses and $1 to each of Hill’s three children for loss of parental companionship, instruction, guidance, mental pain and suffering. 
   
   Because the jury decided the sheriff was 1 percent liable, the portion of the award the Sheriff’s Office must pay is reduced to 4 cents. 
   
   The lawsuit filed by Hill’s mother in 2016 on the second anniversary of Hill’s death, alleged negligence and municipal liability against Mascara. 
   
   More:Family files lawsuit 2 years after deputy kills man 
   
   The suit also alleged that Newman, who already had been cleared by a grand jury, violated her son's Fourth Amendment right to be free from excessive force resulting in a wrongful death under Florida law. 
   
   Bryant’s attorney, John Phillips, argued that the deputy and Sheriff’s Office used “unreasonable, negligent and excessive” tactics, but the jury did not agree. 
   
   Mascara issued a statement through the Sheriff’s Office that said, “We are pleased to see this difficult and tragic incident come to a conclusion. 
   
   “Deputy Newman was placed in a very difficult situation, and like so many fellow law enforcement officers must do every day, he made the best decision he could for the safety of his partner, himself, and the public given the circumstances he faced. 
   
   “We appreciate the jury’s time and understanding and wish everyone involved in this case the best as they move forward.” 
   
   More: Crime down 10 percent in St. Lucie County in 2017 despite population rise 
   
   Phillips did not make himself available for comment other than to say through his assistant in his Jacksonville office that he wanted to spend some time with his family this weekend and will review the trial and verdict before making any statements. 
   
   Newman shot Hill, who worked at a Coca-Cola warehouse, while he and his partner, Deputy Edward Lopez, were investigating a complaint about loud, obscene music at Hill’s home as students at Frances K. Sweet Magnet School, which is across the street, were being let out. 
   
   Attorney John Phillips points to bullet holes in the garage door of the Hill home on Wednesday, January 20, 2016. Gregory Hill Jr. was killed in January 2014 after a confrontation with St. Lucie County deputies at his home in the 1500 block of Avenue Q in Fort Pierce. Hill's family announced Wednesday they are filing a lawsuit against the deputy and the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office. (Photo: WILL GREENLEE/TCPALM) 
   
   The deputies knocked on the garage door. 
   
   When no one responded, Newman knocked on the front door. He heard the music get louder and turned to see the garage door opening. Hill stood facing out of the garage with his left hand on the door and his right hand down. 
   
   Newman drew his gun, and as the garage door started to go down, fired four times toward Hill, tracking upward. 
   
   When a SWAT team arrived soon after and went inside the garage, it confirmed that Hill was dead and found a gun in his back pocket. 
   
   He had been shot three times: twice in the abdomen and once in the head. 
   
   Toxicology reports from Hill’s autopsy showed his blood-alcohol level was nearly 0.40 percent, almost five times the legal limit of 0.08 percent to drive, sheriff’s officials said. 
   
   Investigators identified his weapon as a 9mm handgun, which was later found to be unloaded. 
   
   Read or Share this story: https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/crime/st-lucie-county/2018/05/25/family-gregory-hill-jr-shot-death-st-lucie-deputy-awarded-4-dollars-jury/646323002/ ||||| The Story of Gregory Vaughn Hill 
   
   Family Home Destroyed 
   
   Where Money Will Go 
   
   Justice 
   
   Thank You!!! 
   
   On May 26, 2018, a jury trial was held in Federal Court in St. Lucie County, Florida. The jury awarded Hill's Estate $4 ($1 for each child's pain and suffering and $1 for funeral expenses) and found him 99% at fault, reducing the total verdict to 4 cents. It will be appealed.This gofundme is designed to pick up where the jury left off and provide for Hill's children, repair of the home and serve to make sure justice can be obtained.On January 14, 2014, a St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office deputy shot and killed Gregory Hill through his closed garage door after responding to a loud music complaint. Gregory Hill was in his garage listening to Drake's song 'All Me' when police responded. Police spent 60 seconds on Hill's property, banged violently on his garage door with an asp, leaving dents on it, and then claimed Hill was an aggressor when he simply opened (and then quickly closed) his garage door. Police shot 4 times, striking Hill 3 times.Police claimed Hill had a gun in his hand as the garage door went up and down. Hill's own daughter attended school across the street and watched as her father was shot and killed. She and several school witnesses saw no gun in his hand. An unloaded gun was found in Hill's back pocket. That gun was free of any blood or brain splatter or material DNA. The location of Hill's wounds discredit any theory of holding a gun where it was identified. Forensic testimony also revealed Hill was incapable of putting that gun back in his pocket after being shot in the head.The shooting officer claimed he screamed, "Sheriff's Office. Gun, gun, put down the gun," three to four times before firing. Tests revealed this would have taken well in excess of 9 to 10 seconds, far more than the 3 seconds one officer testified was the total time the door went up and down. Further, neither officer heard the other yell a single word except, "hey." Witnesses across the street heard the officers banging on the door, but never heard a single command.Despite these facts, the jury deliberated for 10 hours. After once saying they couldn't reach a verdict, they reached a verdict. They awarded $1 to each of Hill's three children and $1 for funeral expenses. They found Hill 99% responsible for his own death. As such, the total verdict was $.04 cents, which was reduced to $0.Gregory Hill was raised in the same house where he was shot and killed. And he was raising his children in the same family home. The home was also destroyed as police shoot chemical agent through nearly every window of the home, falsely claiming Hill was alive and "barricaded" inside. Memories were destroyed, toys were contaminated and even some of the keepsakes for his upcoming wedding were poisoned by police attempting to poison a man they had already killed.The family attorney, John Phillips, will place any and all funds in an account, reserved for the children of Greg Hill and ensure that the funds are protected, that the family home is repaired or restored and that the children's needs are taken care of. Should they be necessary, some funds may be reserved for the court costs in this matter. A full accounting will be provided to the family and the family and legal team are working together to have a full plan for the best distribution of all funds.Please help this family. Tell this story. Pray for peace and justice.
target: – A wide receiver who just scored an $82 million contract extension is helping a family that was recently awarded 4 cents, ESPN reports. Mike Evans of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers donated $11,000 Saturday to the family of a man who was shot dead by a Florida sheriff's deputy in 2014. The family of Gregory Hill filed a wrongful death suit, and a jury ruled in May that Hill was 99% responsible for his death and the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office only 1%—so the family received 1% of a $4 reward, TCPalm reported at the time. Evans vowed when signing his March contract renewal to help people out. "It's hard to put into words," he said. "With my actions you'll see it." Evans' donation pushed the Hill family's GoFundMe page to nearly $100,000.