Musannaf Ibn Abi Shayba 18:864

Abu Bakr narrated to us, he said: Muhammad bin Bakr narrated to us, from Ibn Jurayj, who said: I said to 'Ata': "Did the people refuse to pay the blood money (*'aql*) on behalf of their freed slave (*mawla*)?" 'Ata' said: "If his family and the people refuse to pay the blood money on his behalf, then he is the *mawla* of the one who is struck (i.e., the victim's heirs or the state)."