Meigs Co. Sheriff's Office releases more details on drowning deaths of deputy, detainee

From Local 3 News: UPDATE: The State of Tennessee's Office of the 9th District Attorney General released several reports Monday, sharing their findings from the accident that resulted in the drowning deaths of Meigs Co. Sheriff's Office Deputy RJ Leonard and detainee Tabitha Smith.

The newly unsealed autopsy reports determined that both Deputy Leonard and Tabitha Smith drowned when the patrol vehicle being driven by Leonard plunged into the Tennessee River at Blythe Ferry.

A Meigs County Grand Jury has recommended that the county place barriers and/or a gate to prevent others from the same tragic mistake, along with warning lights. They also recommended that the county provide funding for GPS navigation systems to be installed in all Meigs County Sheriff's patrol vehicles.

Smith was handcuffed in the rear of the patrol vehicle.

The patrol car, with her body inside, was later recovered. Leonard's body was recovered after a brief search, not far from where the vehicle was originally located.

"She's handcuffed if you remember. So like I said it had to be a horrific situation for her and to what extent he was trying to get her out, maybe he was the one to damage that window in the process we'll never know," said DA Johnson.

The report draws the following conclusion: "The only conclusion we can come to with any certainty is that this is a tragic accident for both Deputy RJ Leonard, Tabatha [sic] Smith and their families and friends. These are horrific circumstances, and their manner of death is difficult to imagine. Folks will take this information and speculate all that they want. I know that civil lawsuits have been and will be filed, but any amount of speculation or lawsuits will obviously not bring back RJ or Tabatha to their respective families, and this is the most grievous aspect.

This was a rough time, to say the least, for the Meigs County Sheriff's Office, the family of Deputy Leonard and, obviously, Tabatha Smith’s family. The Meigs County community has suffered as a result of this tragedy, and still does to this day."

As the timeline of events was reconstructed, three forms of data (GPS, dispatch transmissions, and text messages) were employed to determine location and communication.

The GPS data gives miles per hour every few seconds. It showed that Deputy Leonard’s vehicle was traveling at approximately 56mph at 10:03:31pm on Blythe Ferry Road nearing the landing, then still at 56mph at 10:03:39pm , and then the last moving data point was 44 mph at 10:03:45pm when it is assumed that he hit the water, and then finally at 10:03:51pm his vehicle is at 1.6mph, presumably the momentum of the vehicle moving into the river. This data depends on how well the times on the GPS device and his cell phone are synchronized, or not, the report explained.

"Now he should've taken a right hand turned Eastbound onto Blythe Ferry Road to go to Hwy 58 back to the jail," said District Attorney General Russell Johnson on Deputy Leonard taking a wrong turn leading onto Blythe Ferry Rd.

Leonard's lack of familiarity with the road, especially on a dark and foggy night with a person in custody, whose history and demeanor with law enforcement was one of drug and alcohol-fueled disruption (one who had both Methamphetamine and marijuana in her system), may have played a role in this tragic event, the report continued.

"It was just a horrible mistake based on the factors of the night, fog, the person in the back, and trying to use a phone or GPS device for navigation," said DA Johnson.


PREVIOUS STORY: The Meigs County Sheriff's Office will be holding a press conference Monday, Nov. 25 at 11:00am regarding the February drowning deaths of Deputy RJ Leonard and Tabitha Smith.
Deputy Leonard arrested Smith shortly before driving his patrol car into the Tennessee River.

As a result, they both died.

The meeting will cover reports generated by both the MCSO's office and the THP's Critical Incident Response Team's investigation, according to 9th District Attorney General Russell Johnson.
At the meeting they will play the final radio transmissions of Deputy Leonard alongside the original 911 call.

Smith's husband filed a $100 million lawsuit in April.

There are no new criminal charges being announced, but more information is expected to be presented.