The Meigs County district attorney said state investigators are still trying to determine what led to a deputy driving his car into the Tennessee River on Feb. 14, resulting in the deaths of the deputy and a woman handcuffed in the back seat.
The woman’s son has filed a $10 million federal wrongful death lawsuit against the county.
District Attorney Russell Johnson said in an email the Tennessee Highway Patrol is continuing to investigate the incident while his office awaits autopsy results on Tabitha Elexis Smith, 35, the woman found muddied and still handcuffed in the patrol car, and Deputy Robert John “R.J.” Leonard, who also drowned when the vehicle plunged into the river.
Johnson said the results may take “a while due to the test of their blood.”
“We are looking at weather conditions, both observed and from the National Weather Service, especially the presence of heavy fog, and other factors involving the route Deputy Leonard took that evening,” Johnson said.