Peter Foley / EPA
The US flag flew at half-mast June 14, the six-month anniversary Sandy Hook massacre. Money from a victims' fund has still not been disbursed.
By Tracy Connor and Tracy Jarrett, NBC News
Nearly 50 members of the Newton, Conn. community packed into a gymnasium Thursday night for a public hearing to help settle an emotionally charged dispute over how $7.7 million collected for a Sandy Hook massacre fund will be divided among families.
It?s been nearly seven months since Adam Lanza stalked through a Newtown, Conn., elementary school, killing 20 first-graders and six staff members in a shooting spree that shocked the world.
Although millions in donations poured into the fund, none of the money has been disbursed amid a battle with the Sandy Hook Community Foundation over the amount the families will get, how much goes to the community, and the process being used.
At the public meeting, a committee distributed a plan it developed with the advice of Ken Feinberg, the lawyer who oversaw victims fund from 9/11, the Virginia Tech massacre and the Boston Marathon bombing.
The plan calls for 95 percent of the $7.7 million to go to the families of deceased victims, with the remaining 5 percent reserved for two people who were injured during the shooting and the families whose children witnessed the attack.
The 26 families of the deceased will each receive $281,000 under the plan. The two injured may receive a total of $150,000, while those whose children witnessed the shooting may receive $20,000 each.
The proposal states that 12 families are eligible to claim their children witnessed the shooting.
Brian Snyder / Reuters file
Ken Feinberg, seen here at a town hall meeting about the Boston Marathon victims fund he ran, is a consultant for the Newtown, Conn., committee divvying up money for Sandy Hook massacre families.
Thursday night's meeting is "an opportunity for whoever wants to speak out,? said the committee chairman, retired federal judge Alan Nevas. ?There may be curiosity in terms of the process. Some people may want specifics in terms of numbers. And there has been controversy in terms of the 70-30 allocation.?
The fund, which was initially run by United Way of Western Connecticut, collected $11.4 million and has decided that 70 percent will go to the victims while 30 percent will be set aside for undefined community needs.
Family members have complained the decision-making process was not transparent and pleaded for an independent figure to oversee the fund. At a meeting in June, two mothers ran from the room crying, according to the Hartford Courant.
Feinberg ? who managed to start funneling $60 million in funds to Boston Marathon victims within 60 days ? is serving only as a consultant to the Newtown committee.
?I have no binding authority,? he said.
He planned to meet with families privately before the hearing to discuss the plan to divvy up the $7.7 million between the families of the 26 dead, two people who were injured, and 12 children who witnessed the horror but survived.
The three-person committee will meet after the hearing and again on Friday, and Nevas said he expects a final decision early next week. Feinberg said he hopes families will start receiving funds by Aug. 15.
Nevas said he did not want to comment on why the process has been so protracted.
?I know why it?s taken so long,? he said. ?I don?t want to ruffle any feathers.?
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