A federal court jury in Chattanooga today ruled that three Hamilton County sheriff’s deputies did not use excessive force when they shot and killed a man in 2007.
The deputies involved in the civil lawsuit expressed relief after the verdict before Judge Curtis Collier in U.S. District Court.
“There’s no way to describe the feeling of having to kill someone,” said Deputy Eston Pyle. “It’s always a last resort.”
Thomas Earl Jones was shot seven times on May 7, 2007, on Dolly Pond Road by Mr. Pyle and deputies Nathan Sampley and Denise Short as they were trying to arrest him for taking a vehicle a relative had reported as stolen.
For complete details, see tomorrow’s Chattanooga Times Free Press.