Ryan Carter
Assistant Editor
A $2 million federal lawsuit filed in 2008 by the mother of Lori Bailey, claiming county officials and former deputies are responsible for the woman's Nov. 1, 2006 death, has been dismissed from federal court.
The action filed by Nancy Mick was dismissed on July 20, according to officials from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio in Columbus.
The Record-Herald could not confirm whether a settlement was reached between the two parties.
The suit, filed on behalf of the Lori Bailey estate and her children, alleged that the conduct of the Fayette County Sheriff's Office and Fayette County Commissioners "independently and/or jointly caused (Lori's) death," according to court papers.
On Friday, Sheriff Vernon Stanforth and Commissioners Jack DeWeese and Tony Anderson said they have not been informed of any type of settlement.
Mick's attorney, James W. Kelleher, did not return phone calls last week.
The plaintiff was seeking $1 million in punitive damages, $75,000 in compensatory damages, attorney's fees and "any and all other relief to which the plaintiff is entitled," according to court papers.
On Nov. 1, 2006, Lori Bailey was kidnapped and murdered by her estranged husband, John Bailey. John Bailey then killed himself.
Before the murder-suicide, on Oct. 25, 2006, Lori Bailey, who was killed at the age of 30, obtained a civil protection order from the Fayette County Court of Common Pleas against John Bailey. The order said that John Bailey must immediately vacate the couple's home at 10306 Pearson-Octa Road, that he was required to turn over all of his deadly weapons and that he could not interfere with Lori Bailey's right to occupy the residence.
Former deputies Patricia Bailey- John Bailey's sister-Terry Olsen, Jr. and Ernest Jackson, Jr. were named in the lawsuit and were all charged with crimes and convicted following an investigation into the service of the civil protection order the night of Oct. 25.
All three were at the scene that night and all three were fired from the sheriff's office, as was Corporal John Hyer who was the supervisor when the civil protection order was served to John Bailey.
Patricia Bailey, who was off-duty at the time, arrived at John and Lori's home at around 11:40 p.m. on Oct. 25, according to testimony during her trial. Earlier, she had received phone calls from her brother and Hyer about the service of the protection order.
When Patricia arrived, Olsen, Jackson, John and John's son were already in the house. Patricia read the civil protection order and said that a certain box on the order wasn't checked and therefore, John was allowed to cause damage to the home.
All three former deputies allowed John Bailey to cause over $25,000 worth of damage to the inside of the Bailey home.
The complaint, which was the basis of the plaintiff's lawsuit, said that Patricia Bailey ordered Olsen and Jackson to permit John Bailey to retain one or more deadly weapons in direct violation of the protection order. It also said that Patricia Bailey, Jackson and Olsen permitted John Bailey's son, a minor, to carry weapons out of the home.
After Stanforth learned of the incident on Oct. 25, 2006, he had John Bailey arrested on Oct. 26, 2006 for violation of the protection order, a felony charge. He posted bond in Washington Municipal Court and was released that day. It was only a week later that he killed Lori.
During an interview with Stanforth after the lawsuit was filed, he said the investigation of what happened on Oct. 25 led to the firing of four deputies and also led to criminal charges against three of them.
"We've been very open throughout this entire process," Stanforth said at the time. "We haven't hid anything or glossed anything over. It is a tragedy what happened to Lori. I knew her as a small child and it was an emotional time for all of us. Her murder was a separate incident from what happened during the service of the protection order. We took a strong position and held those accountable that should have been held accountable for their actions on Oct. 25, 2006. It was a hard thing to do to fire deputies, but that is what needed to be done."
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