Parents Of Woman In Officer In Cocke County Officer Involved Shooting Files Suit
The family of a woman killed last year by police from Parrottsville and Cocke County is suing those two entities as well as the officers involved claiming the shooting was unjustified. The shooting in question happened on May 23, 2023. Officer Rodney Hazelwood had attempted to stop 36 year old Whitney Fox, who had multiple warrants against her, as she was leaving a busniess in Parrottsville. Fox however took off and then led Hazelwood and Laughter on a high speed pursuit up Hwy 340 and then onto several country roads. The pursuit ended when Fox drove into a field off of Fox Hollow and Marshall Hollow Road in the Bybee area. According to body cam footage, Fox refused to surrender and did not comply with over a dozen commands to get out of the vehicle. Instead she began to move her vehicle again leading the officers to believe they were in danger and they opened fire.
Fox was hit 13 times and died at the scene. The lawsuit filed by Troy and Jeanene Fox claims that the officers did not try to deescalate the situation and that the two officers gave conflicting commands. The suit also claims that Fox was trying to back away and did not drive at Officer Hazelwood. The parents also cl;aimn in the lawsuit that Whitney Fox told the officers she was afraid they would shoot her if she got out of her car.
The TBI investigated the shooting and turned their findings over to the District Attorney’s office. In addition, an autopsy that was performed on Fox showed that she had a large amount of methamphetamine in her system at the time of the shooting. According to the Medical Examniner’s report, “the amount of meth found in her blood was double the amount normally associated with irrational and violent behavior in meth abusers.”
After reviewing the evidence and body cam footage, the DA’s office determined in the fall of 2023 that the two officers were justified in the shooting and no charges were filed against them.
The lawsuit, filed by Whitney Fox’s parents, seeks damages of $8.5 million. The suit names both the City of Parrottsville and Cocke County plus names Rodney Hazelwood and Max Laughter individually.