Wrongful Death News

Federal Grand Jury Charges Former Buchanan County Jailer with Obstruction Of Justice and Perjury

United States Attorney John L. Brownlee announced today that a federal grand jury has charged David Shawn Hicks, age 37, a former jailer at the Buchanan County Jail, in Grundy, Virginia, with obstruction of justice and providing false testimony before a federal grand jury and in a civil deposition. The defendant’s false testimony and obstruction of justice related to the investigation of the death of Ms. Tina Stiltner in January, 2002.

“The family of Tina Stiltner and the citizens of our community deserve the truth from Deputy Hicks about how Ms. Stiltner died,” said United States Attorney John Brownlee. “We will no longer tolerate his lies and deceit about her death.”

On Thursday, January 31, 2002, at about 8:30 a.m., Tina G. Stiltner, a 39-year old Buchanan County, Virginia, homemaker was arrested by a Buchanan County deputy sheriff after dropping her children off at school. According to the deputy, Ms. Stiltner was driving erratically and swerving her car. Once stopped, Ms. Stilter failed sobriety tests and was having difficulty speaking and walking. Ms. Stiltner was charged with operating a motor vehicle under the influence of drugs and two counts of child endangerment.

Following her arrest, Ms. Stiltner was transported to the Buchanan County jail facility in Grundy. She arrived at the jail at approximately 9:00 a.m. At approximately 2:39 p.m., deputies found Ms. Stiltner in her cell. Ms. Stiltner was motionless and unconscious.

Soon, the ambulance service came and transported Ms. Stiltner to Buchanan County General Hospital. At 3:01 pm, Ms. Stiltner was pronounced dead.

William Massello, M.D., the Assistant Chief Medical Examiner for Western Virginia, performed the autopsy of Ms. Stiltner's body on February 1, 2002. He found that Ms. Stiltner died from "ligature compression of her neck . . . consistent with either death from self-hanging or death at the hands of another from strangulation."

William L. Stiltner, Ms. Stiltner's father and the administrator of her estate, filed a lawsuit on July 10, 2003, against David Hicks, as well as the Buchanan County Sheriff and the jail nurse. The Complaint asserted a cause of action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for excessive force and the denial of medical treatment, as well as a pendant state cause of action for wrongful death based on negligence

If you have suffered financial or emotional distress due to the negligence of others in New Jersey, contact our wrongful death lawyer now and obtain a free case evaluation.

	Did You Know?
	Family members can file a wrongful death suit. This depends on individual state law, but in general the immediate family members (spouses, children and parents) can file a wrongful death claim. Some states allow grandparents, legal dependants and extended family members to file.