Lawsuit filed over dog killed by Stoddard County deputy

The owners of a dog allegedly shot by a Stoddard County, Missouri, deputy sheriff have filed a lawsuit that intends to compel the sheriff and his custodian of records to release body cam footage of the incident.

The lawsuit was filed by Russel D. Oliver, former longtime prosecuting attorney in the county, on behalf of Bryan and Tylla Pennington and their children.

The lawsuit states that on Aug. 27, Cpl. Travis Maddox and deputy Roger Seal "brutally murdered" the Pennington's 9-year-old black lab mix, Parker. The shooting is alleged to have occurred in the Otter Slough Conservation area after the dog ran away after being spooked by thunderstorms.

Last week, Stoddard County Sheriff Carl Hefner announced he had fired a deputy as a result of the shooting, and demoted his supervising corporal. Hefner said the corporal was placed on unpaid administrative leave as well. The sheriff's office and the county prosecutor asked the state Highway Patrol to investigate the incident.

According to the lawsuit, the plaintiff submitted Aug. 30 a sunshine request for all body camera footage created by Seal. A day later, according to the suit, the sheriff's office released "the only two videos that can be released at this time due to active investigations."

The lawsuit alleges Seal made two phone calls, one to an unknown number and another to "chief deputy Andy Holden" who is the husband of Amy Holden, the custodian of records for the sheriff's office. Amy Holden is a named defendant in the lawsuit.

The videos submitted to the family did not capture the dog's killing, the lawsuit said, which the family is seeking for a civil claim. Because the shooting occurred in a public place, Oliver is arguing there should be no reason not to release the video, because there would be no expectation for privacy on public land.

Law enforcement organizations may close certain records due to ongoing investigations, but Oliver wrote in his complaint there "is no 'active investigation' as described by defendant Sheriff Carl Hefner's records custodian ... in her justification for the non-disclosure of the body camera footage."

The lawsuit is asking for a $5,000 civil penalty for violating the Sunshine Law.

Bryan Pennington posted on his Facebook page that the deputy's "supervisor told him to take him out there and shoot him; you can tell this officer was bothered by it, but he did what he was told to do. ... (Parker) was shared on Facebook and within 1.5 hours he was taken to Otter Slough and disposed of."

In a video Pennington posted on Facebook, he asked, "So is this what you guys do, you don't go through any avenue to try and find the owner? You just shoot 'em?"

"I was told (by) my supervisor to do it this way," the sheriff deputy said on the video. "We're not humane officers."