Blakely v. Kershaw County Sheriff's Office et al

Filing 138

ORDER APPROVING WRONGFUL DEATH SETTLEMENT granting 130 MOTION for Settlement Wrongful Death Hearing, directing that the settlement and payment of settlement proceeds, attorney fees and costs, and disbursements as set forth in the Petition are approved. Signed by Honorable Joseph F Anderson, Jr on 03/22/2013. (bshr, )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF SOUTH CAROLINA
COLUMBIA DIVISION
Deloris Blakely, As Personal Representative
of the Estate of Lori Jean Ellis,

Civil Action No.: 3:10-cv-00707-JFA

Plaintiff,
vs.
Kershaw County Sheriff’s Office; Tyrell
Coleman; South Carolina Department of
Natural Resources; and Gregg Lowery,

ORDER APPROVING
WRONGFUL DEATH
SETTLEMENT

Defendants.

This matter comes before the Court on a Petition of the above named Personal
Representative seeking approval of a proposed settlement of a wrongful death and survival claim
involving four defendants in the aggregate settlement amount of Two Million ($2,000,000.00)
Dollars in actual damages. See ECF No. 130.
The Plaintiff filed the instant underlying action on February 12, 2010 as Personal
Representative of the Estate of Lori Jean Ellis, alleging a claim for Wrongful Death on behalf of
statutory beneficiaries and the estate pursuant to S.C. CODE ANN. §§ 15-51-10 through -60, and
survival. Plaintiff alleged that certain of the Defendants shot and killed Lori Jean Ellis, the
Plaintiff’s decedent and her natural sister, on or about April 21, 2008 while they were attempting
to serve four Magistrate’s Court bench warrants at the home of Decedent during the nighttime.
The Plaintiff alleged in her Complaint that the Defendants South Carolina Department of Natural
Resources (SCDNR) and Kershaw County Sheriff’s Department (KCSD) were negligent and
grossly negligent in their training supervision and service of the warrants and that Defendants
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Coleman and Lowery, acting under color of state law, violated Decedent’s Fourth Amendment
rights to be free from excessive force while being arrested. Specifically, Plaintiff alleges that
Defendants Coleman and Lowery used lethal force (by firing their weapons at Decedent) against
the Decedent when she was not posing a threat of serious bodily injury or death to Defendants
Coleman and Lowery. Plaintiff alleged that the use of this lethal force by Coleman and Lowery
and the gross negligence of SCDNR and KCSD combined and concurred to proximately cause
the death of the Decedent and resulting damages.
The Defendants all contest both the Plaintiff’s assertion of liability and the material
allegations in the Plaintiff’s Complaint.
The court held a hearing on the Petition on March 21, 2013. Present at the hearing were
Robert V. Phillips, attorney for the Plaintiff, and Michael Wren for Defendants SCDNR and
Lowery and David Morrison for Defendants KCSD and Coleman. Plaintiff was also present.
Having reviewed the Petition and the pleadings in the underlying wrongful death and
survival action, having heard and considered the representations of counsel, and having heard the
testimony of the Plaintiff, the court finds that the settlement of the action for a total payment of
Two Million ($2,000,000.00) Dollars is in the best interest of the estate, which, other than a
remaining balance of funeral expenses of Six Thousand Four-Hundred Seventy-One and 00/100
($6,471.00) Dollars, has no creditors. The court finds that the allocation of the settlement
proceeds, attorney fees and costs, and disbursements set forth in the Petition are reasonable and
fair.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the settlement and payment of settlement proceeds,
attorney fees and costs, and disbursements as set forth in the Petition be, and hereby are,

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approved. The Plaintiff is authorized to accept said sums and disburse them as directed by the
Probate Court and execute a Release which will fully and finally settle the controversy between
the parties.
IT IS SO ORDERED.

March 22, 2013
Columbia, South Carolina

Joseph F. Anderson, Jr.
United States District Judge

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