Chattanooga Times Free Press
Chattanooga, Tenn. (AP) -- A lawsuit stemming from an exchange of gunshots that killed a man and wounded two others after a street concert contends law officers delayed an ambulance team for 45 minutes.
A separate lawsuit accuses medical personnel of failing to properly treat the man who died, Tory Hardy, 20.
Relatives of Hardy and two men wounded after the Bessie Smith Strut on June 9, 2003, filed a total of four lawsuits Wednesday.
A fifth lawsuit was filed by a man who contends he was beaten by four officers as he was leaving the concert. David Draper’s lawsuit says he suffered bruises and a concussion and alleges excessive force, battery and false imprisonment. Charges filed against him were dismissed after a court hearing.
“I believe this is going to be a case of mistaken identity,” said his attorney Steve Smith.
The gunfire has prompted criminally negligent homicide, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment charges against Rheubin Taylor II, the son of Hamilton County Attorney Rheubin Taylor, and Timothy Beasley. A preliminary hearing for both men is set for Tuesday.
Court records show both men fired shots but forensics tests that stalled the investigation for months failed to identify which gun fired the fatal shot.
A lawsuit filed by in U.S. District Court contends Hamilton County, the city of Chattanooga, police officers and deputies at the scene did not allow emergency medical personnel into the area where Hardy lay wounded.
Law enforcement officers “refused to allow an ambulance team access to treat him for over 45 minutes,” according to the lawsuit.
Victor Freeman, 19, and Ronald Harris, 16, suffered gunshot wounds.
City Attorney Phillip Noblett declined comment, saying he had not seen the lawsuits. Hamilton County Sheriff John Cupp could be reached for comment Thursday.
Hardy’s relatives said they have requested a special prosecutor and special judge to hear the case. They also want the FBI to oversee the investigation.
“I’m very distraught today,” Delores Williams, Hardy’s grandmother, said Wednesday. “We don’t want pacification. We want the truth.”
“There are a lot of questions that deserve answers,” said John Wolfe, the attorney for Hardy’s family.
A lawsuit filed in Hamilton County Circuit Court seeks damages from paramedics and Erlanger medical personnel. It contends they failed to locate an exit wound and while performing CPR “pushed the blood and the life out of Tory Hardy with every chest compression they made.”
Another state court lawsuit filed on behalf of Hardy and his mother seeks damages from Taylor Funeral Home, Lakewood Memory Gardens, Hamilton County Assistant Medical Examiner Stanton Kessler and Hamilton County. That suit contends Kessler and Taylor Funeral Home removed Hardy’s body organs and tissue that may have contained bullet fragments.
The lawsuit said the organs were incinerated.
Kessler said he performed a proper and thorough autopsy.
“I didn’t do anything wrong in this case,” he said.
An Erlanger spokeswoman declined to comment on pending litigation.
Chattanooga City Councilman John Taylor, who owns Taylor Funeral Home and is not related to Rheubin Taylor, also declined comment. Officials with Lakewood Memory Gardens could not be reached for comment.
A lawsuit filed on behalf of Harris seeks $250,000 from Taylor and Beasley.
Chattanooga lawyer Robert Philyaw, who represents Harris and his mother, Jennifer Beck, said the shooting has altered Harris’ life forever.
“He is physically and emotionally scarred, and his mother has lived the nightmare with him,” Philyaw said.