Widow Of 80-Year-Old Shooting Victim Will Sue Over L.A. County Deputies Killing Husband

The widow of an 80-year-old shooting victim will sue the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for $50 million in the wake of her husband’s death, according to KTLA.com.

Eugene Mallory was gunned down on June 27 by sheriff’s deputies in a mistaken meth lab raid, the website noted.

Authorities claimed the dispute began when officers served a search warrant to the property, stating that the property bore an odor related to ingredients used for making methamphetamine.

Evidence of a meth lab was never discovered, though officers did say they located marijuana on the property.

Attorney James Bergener said he planned to file a civil lawsuit at the request of 48-year-old Tonya Pate, Mallory’s widow. The suit will be against the sheriff’s department and the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner, who allegedly released Mallory’s remains to an out-of-state relative instead of Mallory’s wife.

Officers contend that Mallory pointed a semi-automatic handgun as a response to deputies. He was fired upon and struck six times. According to sheriff’s department spokesperson Steve Whitmore, two guns were uncovered from the scene.

“Age does not preclude somebody from being aggressive toward deputies,” Whitmore said. “The lesson here is… don’t pull a gun on a deputy.”

Pate said Mallory would have “never” pointed a gun at police officers, stating that as a former engineer with Lockheed Martin, he had a deep respect for law enforcement.

“Every day I stay in that house with that bloody bedroom … where I know he was taken from me for no reason,” Pate said.

Bergener added that Mallory was “shot in his bed before there was any warning given.”

If any truth is found to Pate’s story, this won’t be the first shoot-first-ask-later overreach of 2013 on behalf of trigger-happy police.

A few days ago, we brought you the story of a Georgia woman, who called 911 for help, only to have police arrive at the scene and shoot her fiance instead.

Then in July, police in Hawthorne, California, were accused of killing a man’s dog simply because he’d previously filed a lawsuit against them.

Do you think that sheriff’s deputies were really in danger at the hands of 80-year-old Mallory, or are they trying to cover their tracks?

[Image via ShutterStock]