The Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice has agreed to pay $4.5 million to the parents of a 17-year-old who died after a fight at the Waycross Regional Youth Detention Center, according to the family’s attorneys.

Loyce Tucker died Aug. 11, 2022, two days after another juvenile struck him in the neck during what court documents described as a “fight game.”

Officer was arrested after GBI investigation The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said at the time that juvenile correctional officer Thomas Lee Hicks Jr. allowed juveniles to participate in a fight game in his presence Aug. 9, 2022.

Hicks was arrested Aug. 16, 2022, and booked into the Ware County Jail on charges of second-degree murder, two counts of cruelty to children and violation of his oath of office. The available records do not indicate how the criminal case was resolved.

Then-Department of Juvenile Justice Commissioner Tyrone Oliver announced Hicks’ termination after the GBI disclosed its findings.

“The actions of Mr. Hicks are deplorable and do not represent the core values of this agency,” Oliver said in a statement at the time. He also offered condolences to Tucker’s family and said the department took its responsibility to operate safe facilities seriously.

Tucker’s family told WJCL in 2022 that they welcomed the murder charge but believed there was more to the story. They also expressed concern for other juveniles at the facility.

Lawsuit alleged delayed medical care Tucker’s family later alleged that Hicks organized or encouraged the fight and took Tucker and another juvenile into a closet away from security cameras.

After Tucker lost consciousness, Hicks and other juveniles moved him to a shower, where Hicks splashed water on him and slapped his face in an attempt to revive him, according to the lawsuit. Another officer called 911 at least 10 minutes after Tucker lost consciousness, the family alleged.

Tucker was taken to a local hospital and later flown to Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah. A medical examiner determined he suffered a vertebral artery dissection caused by trauma to his neck, according to the complaint.

Family alleged broader pattern of fights Tucker’s parents, Ashlie Muncey and Jonathan Tucker, sued Hicks, detention center Director Jimmy Moore and the Department of Juvenile Justice in 2023. The lawsuit accused officials of failing to protect their son and delaying medical treatment that could have saved his life.

The complaint also alleged correctional officers routinely arranged, encouraged or allowed fights among detained juveniles. Some employees dismissed the encounters as “horseplay,” according to the Savannah law firm Savage, Turner, Pinckney, Savage, Sprouse & Gilluly.

“No amount of money is enough to replace the precious life of this young man,” the firm said in announcing the settlement. “The system failed this child and many others.”