Colby William Crosby, as the Personal Representative of the Estate of William Jerry Crosby v. The Colleton County Sheriff’s Office; Sheriff Guerry “Buddy” hill, in his Official Capacity; and Jacob Scott, individually.
Today, McLeod Law Group, on behalf of the Estate of William Jerry Crosby, filed a Summons and Complaint in the Colleton County Court of Common Pleas for the untimely and wrongful death of life-long Walterboro resident Jerry Crosby.
As alleged in the filed complaints, on Sunday evening May 1, 2022, Jerry Crosby was a law-abiding citizen who was asleep at his home in Colleton County where he had a constitutional right to privacy and to be free from unnecessary governmental interference. Despite Jerry’s inalienable constitutional rights, Cpl. Jacob Scott came onto Jerry’s property without a warrant, without an invitation or without other lawful authority.
Once on Jerry’s property, Cpl. Scott peered through windows, canvassed his home then forced entry into the home through a sliding door on the second-floor screened porch. After Cpl. Scott’s unlawful entry, he found Jerry in bed where Jerry repeatedly told Cpl. Scott he was fine and to get out of his house. Cpl. Scott, however refused to leave and lured Jerry out of bed. Once out of his bed Cpl. Scott shot and killed Jerry in the privacy of his own home.
Attorney W. Mullins McLeod, Jr., said, “It is due time that agencies like the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office learn to respect the constitutional rights of the citizens they claim to serve. We will not rest until this wrong has been righted.”
As alleged in the filed complaint, where the government’s sole interest is preventing harm to a citizen of the community, using force likely to harm that person is manifestly contrary to the government’s interest in that interaction.
Jerry Crosby’s oldest son and the Personal Representative of the Estate said, “We loved our father, and we know that the people of Walterboro loved our father. He believed in making Walterboro and our community a better place, and we hope to continue his legacy by using this lawsuit to improve policing in our part of the low country. Our family loves and respects law enforcement, but our family also knows that what happened to our father was wrong.”
The Complaint, which is available here, is filed in the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit in Colleton County, South Carolina and demands a jury trial against all Defendants.
