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Wells v. Hamblen County Tennessee8/22/2005
This matter concerns a domestic abuse incident resulting in the death of a child and the responsibility of Hamblen County ("County") for its law enforcement officer's handling of the matter. The child's mother sued the County on behalf of herself and her deceased child seeking damages. The trial court granted the County's motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. For purposes of this appeal, we must treat the allegations of the complaint, as set out below, as true.
The child, Matthew Wells, was almost three years old at the time of the incident and was living with his mother, Kim Wells. The child had been visiting his father, Paul Carr, at the residence of Carr's father on September 29, 2002, when Ms. Wells came to retrieve some of her personal items and to pick up her son. Ms. Wells was accompanied by a friend. In the past, Ms. Wells had been assaulted by Paul Carr, and he had made threats to kill her or her family.
While Ms. Wells was gathering her personal things, Matthew and her friend waited in the car. Paul Carr then confronted Ms. Wells telling her that he wanted to get back together with her. When Ms. Wells told him that she did not want to, he began choking her and slammed her head against concrete. He said that if he could not have Ms. Wells, then no one else could. Ms. Wells managed to escape from him and ran toward her car. Before she could lock the car door, Paul Carr grabbed Matthew through the window causing the child to hit his head on the car window. Paul Carr then took the child into his father's house.
Ms. Wells left and contacted the Hamblen County Sheriff's Department. Deputy W. T. Snow answered the call, meeting Ms. Wells at a convenience store. Deputy Snow took a report and photographs of Ms. Wells that were attached to the complaint as exhibits. Ms. Wells told Deputy Snow that she feared Paul Carr would harm his son and asked the officer to go to Mr. Carr's father's residence to get the child and arrest Paul Carr. She said that she had never seen him so angry.
Deputy Snow told Ms. Wells not to worry. Based on his experience and training in domestic abuse cases, he told her that he did not believe Paul Carr would harm their son. Deputy Snow told Ms. Wells that he would take care of Matthew. He said that he would serve an arrest warrant on Paul Carr before Carr left for work the following morning and would then get Matthew. Deputy Snow told Ms. Wells that he needed a warrant to arrest Carr. According to the complaint, the officer said "If I need to shoot somebody when I go up there, I need to have a warrant or I'll be liable."
Deputy Snow offered to transport Ms. Wells to get an arrest warrant issued, but she declined. Ms. Wells signed a statement at the time expressly declining the offer. Ms. Wells was then taken by her mother to the hospital for treatment for her injuries.
Later that day, after Paul Carr had left his father's home with his son, Carr murdered Matthew. Without further elaboration, the complaint states that Deputy Snow had an arrest warrant issued for Paul Carr that was never served. The implication is that it was a warrant for the assault on Ms. Wells and that Deputy Snow obtained it in order to arrest Mr. Carr the next day, as he had told Ms. Wells he would.
Kim Wells, both individually and as Matthew's next of kin, sued the County under the Tennessee Governmental Tort Liability Act, Tenn. Code Ann. ยง 29-20-101 et seq. (hereinafter "GTLA") for wrongful death. According to her complaint, Ms. Wells alleges that the County is liable because Deputy Snow:
negligently or willfully failed to take all reasonable measures necessary
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