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Family members urge investigation into death, allege sheriff's department cover-up
Summary
Three public commenters told the Liberty County Commissioners Court that a local death ruled a suicide should be reinvestigated and alleged a pattern of inaction and obstruction by the sheriff's office; one speaker said he has filed suit to obtain body-camera footage and phone records.
Three residents used the meeting's public-comment period to press the commissioners for help seeking records and renewed investigations into a death the speakers say was mishandled.
Kathy Hatcher, who identified herself as the deceased's mother, said her daughter's body was treated as a suicide at the scene and that family members later found what they believe are signs of foul play. "They basically kinda threw her in the bag like a piece of garbage and took her off," Hatcher said, adding that the family has received no meaningful investigative follow-up and that deputies have harassed her family.
Her husband, Carl Hatcher, told the court the family will pursue legal remedies and said they will not sign a nondisclosure agreement proposed by investigators. "This is a murder case. Somebody needs to investigate it," he said. Another commenter, Wayne Doshfino, said the sheriff promised to reopen the investigation but that 20 months later the office still holds the deceased's phone and the family has not been given access to body-camera video; he said he has filed a lawsuit seeking those records.
None of the speakers recorded a county response in the public comments portion of the meeting; commissioners acknowledged the comments but did not direct a specific action on the record during the session. The speakers requested the county attorney or sheriff's office produce phone forensics and body-camera video and urged the court to review whether proper investigative steps were taken. The family's allegations and the request for records remain unresolved in the public meeting record.
