Appeals court: Federal suit over Fremont-area shooting can go to trial
11/14/2013The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that a wrongful-death lawsuit brought against Sandusky County Sheriff Kyle Overmyer and two of his deputies in the 2010 shooting death of Bryan Jones should proceed to trial.
The court upheld nearly all of the findings of U.S. District Judge Jack Zouhary but remanded the case to federal court to examine the issue of whether the officers may be immune from civil liability for the use of a flash-bang device detonated as they entered a rural Fremont home to arrest Jones.
Jones, 26, was shot to death on July 11, 2010, by deputies Jose Calvillo and his brother, Mario, both members of the sheriff’s tactical response team, after Jones’ father, Tracy Jones, called the sheriff’s office saying that his son had threatened to shoot his mother, Kim Jones.
Jones was on the couch with an unloaded gun across his lap. When the tactical team entered the house, it detonated the distraction device and confronted Jones; officers said he swung his gun around and pointed it at them.
Tracy and Kim Jones filed the $20 million wrongful death suit in 2010.