TAMPA, Fla. — Thursday night a jury found the Hillsborough County Sheriff's office responsible for the death of Andrew Joseph III and awarded his parents $7.5 million each.

The jury found that the Sheriff's Office was 90% responsible for the death, while 14-year-old Joseph was 10% responsible.

Closing arguments the civil trial against the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office involving Joseph's 2014 death took place earlier in the day. 

"I prayed that I would one day believe that humans were good. I prayed that one day I could believe in community in the legal system, in justice systems because I lost faith in those things after eight and a half years of prolonged suffering." said Deanna Joseph, Andrew's mother.

The 14-year-old was killed while crossing I-4 after he and about 100 other kids were kicked out of the fair.

Both sides rested their cases Wednesday, and the family had been seeking $30 million in damages. 

After the verdict Andrew's father Andrew Joseph Jr. told Bay News 9, "Today we got vindication. Today we cleared his name. today it was proven that that child didn’t do nothing wrong out there. That we got it in black and white and it ain’t gone never bring him back. But it’s gonna send a message wide across this world."

The judge denied a motion after defense attorneys took another try at removing now-retired Cpl. Mark Clark as a defendant in the lawsuit, saying qualified immunity protected from liability from actions taken as a law enforcement official.

While he remained a named defendant in the case, the jury ultimately cleared Clark of any responsibility in Joseph's death.

The teen's parents said no one notified them about what was happening or contacted them to pick up their son that night. The family sued the Sheriff’s Office and the Florida State Fair, which settled with the family days before the trial started.

Two other deputies who had contact with Joseph the night of his death were also dropped from the lawsuit, leaving the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and Clark as the remaining defendants in the lawsuit. 

In response to the jury's decision Thursday, Sheriff Chad Chronister released the following statement:

“Losing a child is a heartbreaking and eternal grief that no parent should have to face, and we continue to keep the Joseph family in our prayers."