Polk County deputy and sheriff sued over 2021 shooting of woman wielding shovel in Wahneta

The mother of a woman shot and killed in 2021 by a Polk County deputy in Wahneta has sued the deputy and Sheriff Grady Judd, court filings show.

The civil rights lawsuit was filed on Nov. 11 by Tampa attorney Life Malcolm on behalf of the estate of Jessiram Hweih Rivera and her mother, Jessica Hweih, who is also the personal representative of the estate and grandmother to Rivera's two children.

As of Friday, the Sheriff’s Office had not responded to the filing of the lawsuit, Polk County Clerk of Court records showed.

The lawsuit was filed with the 10^th Circuit Court and seeks monetary and punitive damages of more than $100,000 for alleged negligence on the part of the defendants. The filing also demands a jury trial.

A letter of intent to file the lawsuit and the complaint were filed together on Nov. 11, two years to the day after Rivera was fatally shot by Polk County sheriff's Sgt. Sean Speakman.

When reached by phone on Thursday, Malcolm said that under state statute, agencies such as the Sheriff’s Office have six months to file a response to a lawsuit.

Malcolm would not elaborate further on allegations within the lawsuit.

As previously reported by The Ledger, Speakman fired four shots at Rivera from his agency issued firearm as she walked toward him wielding a shovel.

“The above-named Defendants (Judd and Speakman) are jointly and severally liable for all damages alleged herein since their negligent, grossly negligent, reckless, and wanton acts and omissions, singularly or in combination, are a direct and proximate cause of Plaintiff’s damages, injuries and losses,” the complaint signed by Malcolm said.

According to previous reports in The Ledger, Rivera, 24, had a history of mental illness, and her mother had attempted to have her committed to rehab or the county jail under the state's Marchman Act twice in the seven days leading up to her death. The first was on Nov. 4, 2021, but Rivera checked herself out of Tri-County Human Health in Bartow immediately. The second was on Nov. 10. A warrant was issued, but she had not yet been found.

On Nov. 11, the Sheriff's Office had received several reports of a woman, later identified as Rivera, walking in and out of traffic on Rifle Range Road at 3:17 p.m. The first arriving deputy couldn't find the woman and left the scene. About 3:41 p.m., the PCSO received another call, and Speakman arrived within a minute. He found Rivera walking along a long dirt road near Rifle Range Road and Noles Lane with a shovel in her hand.

According to the Sheriff's Office, Speakman, who was highly trained in crisis intervention, attempted to talk to Rivera, but she raised the shovel and slammed it into a nearby stack of wood. She then raised it over her head again and began approaching Speakman.

According to Judd, two witnesses said they saw Rivera approaching Speakman with the shovel over her head, and that Speakman ordered her to drop it as he drew his weapon and backed away. As she got within striking distance, Speakman fired.

The Sheriff's Office does not provide body cameras for its deputies, nor does it use in-dash cameras.

In the days after the shooting, the Sheriff's Office said Speakman did not know Rivera's identity at the time of the confrontation, nor was he aware of her record of mental illness and drug use.

In an interview with The Ledger in the days after the shooting, Rivera's mother expressed frustration at Speakman and the Sheriff's Office.

“OK, maybe you got, you got intimidated, maybe you thought your life is at risk,” Hweih said. “You should shoot her only once, she going down, that's it. Why four times?

“The Polk Sheriff department (say), ‘If you don't listen to us, guess what? We shoot you.'”

The lawsuit filed in November made similar allegations of excessive force.

“At some point, instead of returning to his vehicle, or otherwise retreating to safety, Speakman, in alleged fear for his life, drew his agency issued duty handgun, and shot Jessiram, four times, killing her,” the complaint said.

“The force that Speakman used to stop Jessiram did not match the force Jessiram displayed,” it said.

Rivera's mother and two minor children are named as beneficiaries in the lawsuit. The lawsuit seeks damages for pain and suffering, support for Rivera's mother and children, burial expenses and Rivera's loss of potential income, among other potential damages.

The wrongful death claim against Judd also says: “Defendant Judd and his agent, Sean Speakman, shot and killed Jessiram, because Judd promotes his law enforcement officers killing people as funny and cool.

“Instead of helping Jessiram, by deescalating the situation, or disengaging from the encounter, altogether, Speakman, following Judd’s written or unwritten policies, shot and killed Jessiram.”

Malcolm also wrote, “Defendant Judd’s actions were not initiated for the protection of the general public. Jessiram was not a public safety concern, nor could she reasonably be said to be a risk to others, when Speakman shot her and killed her.”

A Ledger reporter’s request for an agency report on an investigation into the incident is still pending.

In a March 15 email, PCSO Communications Director Scott Wilder said Speakman was a sergeant in the Southeast District patrol at the time of the shooting and remains a sergeant.

“He did not have to get any additional training, etc.,” Wilder said. “He was placed on paid administrative leave for a few days pending a ‘fitness for duty’ evaluation by a psychiatrist. After that evaluation he was cleared to return to work.

“There was no disciplinary action—there were no violations of general orders or law,” he added.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Family of Jessiram Hweih Rivera, killed by a Polk deputy in 2021, sues