Men convicted in Z'yon Person murder ordered to pay $900,000 in restitution to family
The three men convicted of killing nine-year-old Z'yon Person in Durham must pay his family roughly $900,000 in restitution.
That's according to agreements signed by the defendants just within the last week.
Court documents show the three men convicted of killing Person agreed to pay his family. The defendants signed the agreements within the last seven days as one signed as recently as Tuesday.
In 2019, Person was killed near the intersection of Leon and Duke streets in Durham on his way to get a snow cone. It was a tragic, highly-publicized case that drew lots of attention within The Bull City.
The car Person was riding in was mistaken for a rival gang's vehicle.
Recently, the three men who killed him have been ordered to pay his family.
The $900,000 amount was determined, according to the agreement, by a forensic economist who "projected the victim's future earnings."
The agreement states: "The government consulted with Z'yon Person's mother who does not object to the figure."
Attorney Daniel Meier, who does not have a relation to this case, explained the three defendants split that amount. Meier said the three do not have to split it equally.
"It makes it easier for the victim to collect because they can collect from any one of them," Meier stated.
Meier doesn't think the Person family will see the full extent of the $900,000 total.
"In a case like this, where at least one of the defendants has money or did at some point, there's a reasonable chance they'll get some of it, at least," Meier said.
One of the men convicted, Antonio Davenport, was a successful rapper who signed a $1 million deal with Atlantic Records shortly before the murder.
"Given that Davenport had some success, at least, as an artist, there may be some money there somewhere they can get," Meier said.
Davenport and Derrick Dixon were both sentenced to life in prison. Dival Magwood was sentenced to roughly 22 years.
Meier explains they will work jobs in prison to try to pay off what they owe, though it may not be much.
"Now they get paid literally pennies on the dollar," Meier said. "I think it's 10 to 20 cents an hour, if you're working through the prison."
"If the family really wants to try to recover anything, they'll file a civil lawsuit," Meier said. "You don't rely on restitution to actually compensate yourselves."
