The family of the Kirkersville Police Chief killed while on duty in 2017 has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the judges and probation officers who oversaw the criminal case of the man who shot and killed him.
Jim Letizia reports.
The suit filed by the family of Steven DiSario also names as defendants the Licking County Municipal Court and the City of Newark. The suit alleges officials acted recklessly, leading to Disario's death at the hand of Thomas Hartless at the Pine Kirk Care Center. Hartless went to the facility armed because it was where his estranged girlfriend was employed. He also killed her - Marlina Medrano - and facility employee Cindy Krantz. Hartless was on probation at the time, serving less than three weeks of a 90-day prison sentence. After the shootings, a probation department report showed officials failed to properly review the case files and improperly recommended early release. The defendants have yet to comment on the lawsuit.
