CHARLESTON – The father of a Charleston police officer killed last year in the line of duty has file a petition to determine if he is eligible to be a beneficiary of her estate.
Charles Johnson filed the Petition for Declaratory Judgment in Kanawha Circuit Court on December 3, exactly one year after Cassie Johnson’s death. Sheryl Johnson, Cassie’s mother, and the City of Charleston are listed as defendants.
Cassie Johnson died two days after being wounded while responding to a parking complaint on Garrison Avenue. She was taken off life support the following day, and died the next day at Charleston Area Medical Center. She was 28.
According to Charles Johnson’s petition, the city applied to the West Virginia Division of Homeland Security for benefits. The benefits were approved and paid to the city for distribution to the beneficiaries.
Cassie Johnson was survived by both parents, a sister and a brother. She had no children.
Charles Johnson says the Mutual of Omaha life insurance enrollment form Cassie completed when she became a police officer names her mother Sheryl Johnson as a primary beneficiary. He says 100 percent of the benefits were paid to Sheryl Johnson.
Charles also says West Virginia intestate succession statutes would include him as a proper beneficiary of the estate, but he says he was not included in the distribution of the benefits.
He is asking the court to apply West Virginia Code to the matter and enter a Declaratory Judgment as to whether Cassie Johnson’s statutory death benefits were distributed properly by the City of Charleston.
Charleston City Attorney Kevin Baker said the city did nothing wrong.
“The city and state acted in good faith to distribute the death benefits and it is a shame that Cassie's father filed this petition on the anniversary of her death,” Baker told The West Virginia Record. “The city has not been served with the petition yet, but we will vigorously defend our actions when it arrives.”
Charles Johnson is being represented by Shannon Bland of Bland & Bland in Charleston. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Maryclaire Akers.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 21-C-1088
