Lawsuit filed against Meigs County Sheriff’s Office

DECATUR, Tenn. (WDEF) – It’s been nearly a month since a Meigs County deputy drove into the Tennessee River, where he and a woman he had arrested were found dead.

Now Tabitha Smith’s family is seeking answers.

Authorities looking for Meigs County deputy Robert Leonard and a woman he arrested. (Courtesy: Russell Johnson)

Filed in the Tennessee Eastern District Court on Monday, the family of Tabitha Smith is suing the Meigs County Sheriff’s Department for ten million dollars.

Smith was under arrest in the backseat of a Meigs County patrol vehicle when for unknown reasons, Meigs County Deputy Robert Leonard drove into the Tennessee River at Blythe’s Ferry.

Both Deputy Leonard and Smith were found dead in the river the next day according to the Meigs County Sheriff’s Department.

In the lawsuit, there are eight different counts levied against the Meigs County Sheriff’s Department.

The primary one is an argument that Smith’s 14th Amendment rights were violated.

Attorney Robin Flores, who is representing the Smith family in this case, said, “The complaint speaks for itself… We’re claiming there was a special relationship at the time of the arrest and that the deputy violated the victim’s rights in this case by deprivation of her life and her bodily integrity without due process.”

Among other claims in the lawsuit include wrongful death, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and gross negligence.

The lawsuit argues that the Meigs County Sheriff’s Office failed to properly train Deputy Leonard, who had been in the department for two months, to both fully know his patrol area and not to use his cell phone while driving.

The plaintiffs say that the Deputy should have known Blythe’s Ferry Road goes into the river.

Flores says that could be the subject of future legal action, as he said, “There is exposure there. That is something that will require some more work. There’s some reasons that I can’t go into detail as to why we were concerned about timing.”

Flores says this initial lawsuit is just the beginning and expects this case to be active well into the fall of next year and plans to file lawsuits in-state as well.

We reached out to Meigs County authorities, and District Attorney Russell Johnson responded, “No comment on the pending federal civil lawsuit.”