The estate of Jennifer Louise Agee has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against her ex-husband Jonathan Agee in Roanoke Circuit Court. Jonathan Agee was a Franklin County Sheriff’s deputy up until the Memorial Day incident that took the life of Jennifer Agee. The sheriff’s deputy confronted Jennifer Agee, took an assault rifle from his Franklin County police cruiser and fired five shots at close range in a Roanoke parking lot as her daughter watched last Memorial Day. Jennifer Agee was pronounced dead at a local hospital shortly thereafter.
Police have previously pointed the finger at anabolic steroids as the culprit in the murder. Investigators found two vials of steroids, including one vial of testosterone cypionate, at Agee’s home and noted that Agee had “gotten much bigger” in the weeks leading up to the violence.
Instead of blaming steroids, the lawyers for Jennifer Agee’s estate have decided to assign responsibility to Franklin County Sheriff Ewell Hunt. Hunt was named as a defendant in the wrongful death lawsuit. The lawsuit accuses him of “gross negligence” and “wanton negligence” after learning one of his deputies intended to kill Jennifer Agee.
Jonathan Agee’s current wife notified Sheriff Hunt of her husband’s intentions. Hunt decided to handle the matter privately rather than notify local police that one of his deputies was about to commit a murder. The lawsuit claims Hunt’s decision was motivated by “his desire to win re-election” by attempting to defuse the situation privately while avoiding the public “embarrassment” that would follow the notification of outside law enforcement agencies. Hunt had instructed that his dispatcher not issue a “be on the lookout” alert to police in Salem and Roanoke counties.
“Had Sheriff Hunt alerted them to Jonathan Agee’s murderous intentions, they would have intervened to prevent a murder — rather than arrive to investigate one,” wrote Greg Habeeb and Matthew Broughton of Gentry Locke Rakes & Moore. “When called to help personally and through 911 … Sheriff Hunt stood in the way of getting help. That’s shameful,” said Joe Stanley, the owner of a Facebook group called “Sheriff Ewell Hunt Must Resign”.
Furthermore, the lawsuit claims that “Sheriff Hunt knew or should have known about Jonathan Agee’s illegal steroid consumption and took no actions to intervene” suggesting that Agee’s recent consumption of anabolic steroids “dramatically changed his physical appearance and behavior.”
The wrongful death lawsuit seeks $20 million in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages.
Jonathan Agee is expected to stand trial in November on multiple charges including first degree murder, use of a firearm in the commission of murder and attempted capital murder of a law enforcement officer.
Meanwhile, also in November, Sheriff Hunt seeks re-election as Franklin County Sheriff. Hunt won the Republican Party nomination in spite of a rally that called for his resignation in the aftermath of the Jennifer Agee murder.
Source:
Harvey, N. (September 8, 2011). Estate of slain Roanoke woman sues suspect, sheriff. Retrieved from http://hamptonroads.com/2011/09/estate-woman-killed-roanoke-sues-suspect-sheriff
