SPENCER – The fiancée of a man who was shot and killed by a Roane County sheriff’s deputy in 2019 has filed a lawsuit against the deputy and the county commission.
Tammy Lou Nichols filed her complaint February 19 in Roane Circuit Court against Deputy Michael King and the Roane County Commission. She was engaged to Timothy Rhodes, who was shot and killed by King on February 22, 2019.
Her lawsuit – and a federal lawsuit previously filed by Rhodes’ brother – says Rhodes’ death was “entirely unnecessary” and that he was on his own property unarmed.
Ashley
Earlier this month, King, the Roane County Commission and Sheriff L. Todd Cole were named in another federal lawsuit over a similar shooting and fatality involving King.
In her complaint, Nichols says she and Timmy Rhodes, who was 28, went to his childhood home on Ambler Ridge Road to collect mail and other items. She says the long-established entrance to the home is through use of a roadway that passes in front of the home of Beth and Robert Young.
When Rhodes drove past the Young home, Beth Young said his truck tires spun and kicked up rocks. She called 911 to complain. Minutes later, King arrived. The complaint says King was wearing blue jeans, a white t-shirt and a bulletproof vest instead of his uniform. He also was armed with a shotgun. It also says King was observing from a distance, leaning against a tree with an object in his hand.
“While defendant King observed the scene from a distance, Timmy returned to the vehicle and was terrified,” the complaint states. “He’d heard about defendant King’s reputation for using unnecessary force. Timmy informed Tammy that defendant King had arrived and was behind their truck holding something.”
Then, according to the complaint, King advanced quickly, pointed the shotgun at the couple and shouted orders for them to get out of the truck and on the ground.
The complaint says King continued to advance toward Rhodes, “aggressively screaming at him to get on the ground.” He then shoved Rhodes to the ground.
“With Tammy lying only a few feet away from defendant King and Timmy Rhodes, defendant King fired his shotgun at close range, shooting Timmy in his face,” the complaint states. “Timmy was unarmed and was not lawfully under arrest.
“Tammy asked defendant King if Timmy, her fiancé, was dead. Defendant King replied, ‘Not yet, but he will be.’”
The complaint says King ordered Nichols to stay on the ground before telling her to stand up, walk to the rear of the vehicle and kneel and place her hands on her head.
“Despite her grief and concern for Timmy, Tammy complied in fear for her life,” the complaint states. “Tammy waited with her hands above her head while Timmy suffered and bled to death only feet away.”
The complaint says King called 911 dispatch minutes to report Rhodes still was breathing. He eventually died.
The complaint says that before Rhodes’ death, Roane County Sheriff L. Todd Cole and the Roane County Commission had received numerous complaints about other instances of excessive force and threats of lethal force by King.
The complaint goes on to document a few such incidents, including one in 2018 in which King allegedly pulled a weapon while apprehending a man’s son by forcefully placing his weapon against the man’s head and struck him with it. Sheriff Cole told the man the situation would be handled, but the complaint says no corrective action was taken against King.
Another incident happened in 2013 when King pulled over a school bus, detained a child, removed the child from the bus and placed him in his cruiser because the child’s hat had flown out of the bus window.
And another incident detailed in the complaint tells how King ordered a woman to leave Walton Middle School in 2014 while her child was attending a school dance. It says King had his hand on his gun while yelling at her. She was there picking her child up and trying to settle a dispute between her child and another child.
Dante diTrapano, one of Nichols’ attorneys, declined comment because of the “ongoing litigation involving the Roane County families that we represent in which Mike King shot in the face and killed two innocent and defenseless men.”
When Rhodes’ brother filed his federal lawsuit two years ago, diTrapano and attorney Booth Goodwin spoke out against King’s actions.
“Deputy Sheriff King shot Timmy Rhodes in the face with a shotgun and killed him in response to a complaint that was at most the level of a traffic ticket,” Goodwin, a former U.S. Attorney, said at the time. “This was a senseless act of violence against an unarmed man on his own property by someone who was sworn to uphold the law.
“This did not have to happen because our investigation to date has already revealed a number of credible complaints of violent and inappropriate behavior by King that his employers most certainly knew or should have known about.
“King is a rogue deputy, and he should have been reigned in before something like this tragedy occurred.”
Dante diTrapano, who also is representing the plaintiffs, agreed then.
“This is the first of several lawsuits for victims we intend on bringing against the Roane County Commission and Mike King,” diTrapano said. “King’s conduct as an officer is deplorable.”
Nichols’ complaint accuses the defendants of negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent conduct. She seeks compensatory damages for pain and suffering, sorrow, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, psychiatric and psychological therapy and counseling, medical therapy and counseling as well as loss or diminishment of earning capacity. She also seeks pre- and post-judgment interest, attorney fees court costs and other relief as well as punitive damages against King.
In addition to Goodwin and diTrapano, other attorneys representing the plaintiffs are Alex McLaughlin and Benjamin D. Adams of Calwell Luce diTrapano in Charleston as well as Benjamin B. Ware and Stephanie H. Daly of Goodwin & Goodwin in Charleston. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Anita Ashley.
Roane Circuit Court case number 21-C-4