RIVERSIDE, Calif. — The teenage survivor of the 2022 Riverside killings carried out by former Virginia deputy Austin Lee Edwards filed a federal lawsuit against the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, claiming the agency’s negligent hiring practices led to the deaths of her family members and her own abduction, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The lawsuit, filed in February 2024 in U.S. District Court in Central California, names the sheriff’s office, Sheriff Blake Andis, Det. William Smarr and Edwards’ estate. It alleges violations of the teen’s Fourth Amendment rights, false imprisonment, negligent hiring, assault and battery and other claims. The teen and her foster mother, who is acting as her guardian, are seeking at least $50 million in damages.
Edwards, 28, posed as a 17-year-old online to groom the then-15-year-old before showing up at her home on Nov. 25, 2022. He murdered her mother, Brooke Winek, 38, and grandparents, Mark, 69, and Sharie Winek, 65, then set their house on fire before abducting the teen at gunpoint, according to the Los Angeles Times. Hours later, he died by suicide following a police pursuit.
The lawsuit follows a separate complaint filed in 2023 by Mychelle Blandin, the aunt of the abducted teen and guardian of her younger sister, which also accuses the sheriff’s office of negligent hiring and seeks over $100 million in damages.
The new lawsuit highlights details from Edwards’ personnel records, which suggest major lapses in the hiring process. Investigators failed to contact key references, and Smarr, the detective who reviewed Edwards’ application, did not interview his father — who had previously told police his son had threatened to kill him during a 2016 mental health crisis, the Los Angeles Times reports. The lawsuit claims that had the sheriff’s office conducted a proper background check, Edwards’ history of psychiatric detention and firearm prohibition would have been uncovered, preventing his employment and the subsequent killings.
Following his short tenure with Virginia State Police, Edwards was hired by Washington County nine days before the killings. The lawsuit argues that despite warnings about his past, he was given a gun and a badge, which he used to deceive the Winek family into letting him inside their home.
The sheriff’s office has not publicly responded to the latest lawsuit.
Original story below:
By Summer Lin and Erin B. Logan
Los Angeles Times
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Relatives of the Riverside family killed by “catfish” cop Austin Lee Edwards nearly a year ago filed a lawsuit Thursday against the Virginia sheriff’s office that hired him.
Edwards, a former Virginia state trooper then employed by the Washington County, Virginia, sheriff’s office, killed Mark Winek, 69; Sharie Winek, 65; and Brooke Winek 38, in their Riverside home on the morning of Nov. 25, according to authorities. He set fire to their home and kidnapped Brooke’s then-15-year-old daughter. Police said Edwards, 28,“catfished” the girl by telling her during previous online conversations that he was 17.
In a lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Central California, the teen’s aunt, Mychelle Blandin, sued the Washington County Sheriff’s Office and Edwards’ estate for damages, citing violation of Fourth Amendment rights, battery and negligent hiring, supervision and retention, among other allegations. Blandin, who is the guardian of the 15-year-old’s younger sister, has also sued on behalf of the younger child, and is seeking unspecified financial compensation.
After kidnapping the teen, Edwards drove into the Mojave Desert with the girl, where he died in a confrontation with law enforcement. Police initially said he was killed in a shootout but later said he died of a self-inflicted gunshot with his service weapon. The girl wasn’t physically uninjured.
“Our law enforcement agencies and their process for screening new hires must be held to the highest standards,” Alison Saros, an attorney for Blandin, said in a news release. “These individuals are meant to protect us, but the Sheriff’s Office failed to follow the proper processes. Sadly, the Winek family has suffered irreparable tragedy.”
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Los Angeles Times previously reported that Edwards told the Virginia State Police during his application process that he was detained for psychiatric evaluation and went to a mental health facility in 2016, showing that the agency knew about his mental health issues. This visit led to two custody orders, which typically allow law enforcement to take someone into custody and transport them for mental health evaluation, and a judge revoking his gun ownership rights.
Col. Gary Settle, the state police superintendent, wrote in a letter to the state’s inspector general after the slayings that Edwards’ admission wouldn’t have automatically disqualified him from being hired, but should have prompted Virginia State Police to investigate further.
“Unfortunately, the error allowed him to be employed, as there were no other disqualifiers,” Settle wrote.
After resigning from Virginia State Police after nine months, Edwards applied to work at the Washington County Sheriff’s Office. He used his father and a close friend as references in his application. He was hired as a patrol deputy nine days before he killed the Wineks.
In a statement after the slayings, Washington County Sheriff Blake Andis said that Edwards had started orientation at his agency and that none of Edwards’ previous employers had disclosed any red flags.
“It is shocking and sad to the entire law enforcement community that such an evil and wicked person could infiltrate law enforcement while concealing his true identity as a computer predator and murderer,” Andis said.
During the murders, police believe Edwards presented his badge to Sharie and Mark Winek and told them he was there for an investigation in order to lure Brooke Winek and her 15-year-old daughter back to the Riverside home, The Times previously reported.
He put bags over the heads of Sharie and Mari Winek, who both died from asphyxiation, according to their coroner’s reports also included with the lawsuit. Edwards then stabbed Brooke Winek, who died from a wound to her spinal cord, according to her coroner’s report.
“Edwards never should have been hired by the Sheriff’s Department. He was barred by the courts from owning or possessing a gun because of his mental illness and because he was a clear danger to the community,” said David Ring, Blandin’s attorney. “He used his position as a sheriff’s deputy and the gun they gave him to kill these innocent victims.”
This article, originally published on Nov. 20, 2023, has been updated to reflect information regarding a lawsuit filed by the surviving teenager.
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