The Detroit City Council has quietly signed off on a $4 million payout to LaVone Hill, a man who spent more than 22 years in prison for a double homicide that a court later ruled he did not commit. Hill’s murder convictions were tossed in October 2024 after a reinvestigation undercut key parts of the original case. The council approved the settlement on Tuesday with no public debate, triggering a short window for the mayor to act under city rules.
According to BridgeDetroit, Corporation Counsel Conrad Mallett Jr. urged council members in a confidential memo to accept the deal, calling the payout “in the best interest of the City of Detroit.” The Law Department argued that settling now would spare the city a long and expensive legal fight, bringing at least the civil side of a two-decade saga closer to resolution.
How the conviction unraveled
Hill’s two first-degree murder convictions were vacated on Oct. 23, 2024, when a Wayne County judge ruled that new evidence had fundamentally weakened the case. The Michigan Innocence Clinic at the University of Michigan uncovered sworn statements from two independent witnesses who said Hill was not at the dice game where the shootings occurred. The clinic also pointed to ballistics evidence indicating a high-powered rifle, not a handgun, was used in the killings. After reviewing the new record, the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Conviction Integrity Unit declined to retry the case.
Officer at the center
Court records and later reporting describe how Detroit Police Sgt. Walter Bates drafted a false statement for a detained witness, a move that helped prop up the original prosecution, according to the National Registry of Exonerations. Bates was later convicted in a series of bank robberies, further undermining his credibility. Wayne County Prosecutor Kym L. Worthy said her office would not bring the case back to trial because “there is no way in the world that this office would put Walter Bates on any witness stand,” as reported by AP News.
Settlement and the lawsuit
Federal court dockets show that Hill filed a civil rights lawsuit in 2025 against the city and several officers. As that case moved forward, the city’s Law Department circulated a confidential settlement memorandum recommending a $4 million payment. Council members voted Tuesday to accept that recommendation, according to court filings.
What the payout covers - and what it does not
Hill’s attorney, Shereef Akeel, told The Detroit News the settlement will provide his client “some measure of justice for a crime he never committed,” but noted that legal limits mean Hill can only be paid for part of his time in prison. Hill has maintained he was never at the crime scene and told a judge he “sat in prison for almost 23 years because of the misconduct” that tainted his case, according to AP News.
Next steps and city process
Detroit’s city charter gives the mayor seven days after a council vote to return an ordinance or resolution. If the mayor does nothing, the measure automatically takes effect at the end of that period. With council approval already in place, the Hill settlement now heads toward formal execution, even as his federal civil rights case continues to move through the Eastern District of Michigan, where court records show it remains pending.
What this means locally
The Michigan Innocence Clinic notes that Hill is the 44th person freed with its help. Advocates say the settlement amounts to a rare official acknowledgment that the system failed him, even if no check can make up for more than two decades behind bars. They have called for continued scrutiny of past investigative work so that similar cases are identified and corrected faster than Hill’s was.
