Jerry Lawler Files a Lawsuit Over the Death of Brian Christopher

Days before the one year anniversary of the death of Brian Christopher Lawler, his father Jerry Lawler filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Hardeman County, Tennessee and its sheriff.

The law firm representing Jerry Lawler, Rosenblum & Reisman, released this statement:

“Jerry Lawler filed a lawsuit on Friday, July 26, 2019 seeking justice for Brian Lawler’s family. Lawler is seeking compensatory damages and punitive damages in an amount to be determined by a jury for the numerous failures of the county and its employees that resulted in the wrongful death of his son, Brian Christopher Lawler. Lawler is also asking the court to order Sheriff Doolen to make changes at the Hardeman County Jail to protect all inmates from future harm.”

Lawler is seeking $3 million in compensatory damages “with an additional award of punitive damages to be determined by the jury for the benefit of Brian’s minor son,” according to TMZ.

Brian Christopher was found dead, hanged in his jail cell in Bolivar, TN on July 29, 2018. He had been arrested for a DUI after a police chase on July 6.

After his death, Jerry Lawler said that based on evidence he’s seen and people he talked to at the jail, he has doubts that Christopher actually committed suicide.

On the day of his death, Christopher had allegedly gotten into a fight with another inmate. A witness told Lawler that Brian was bleeding from his head and asked for medical help, but he didn’t get any. Hours later, he was found hanged. Lawler also said that despite assurances from the county sheriff that Brian Christopher would be placed in his own cell because of his notoriety, he was placed in a cell with other inmates and ended up getting into the fight.

Lawler also said that he was personally “promised” by the sheriff that Christopher would get treatment for drug and alcohol issues, but he was provided with no treatment at all. Lawler said that the promise of treatment was one of the reasons why he decided to not immediately bail out Christopher from jail, and said that he felt betrayed by the sheriff, according to the lawsuit.

Lawler also previously talked about marks on Christopher’s neck which he felt were not consistent with a suicide, and said that he was told that 20 of the cameras inside of the jail were “not working.”

Despite Lawler’s doubts, Lawler’s lawyers said today during a press conference that the jail was negligent in leaving Christopher in a cell with shoe laces and protruding metal bolts, despite knowing his history with major depressive disorder, drug and alcohol abuse and a new head injury.

The lawsuit’s introductory statement says, “Plaintiff is filing this action to seek damages for the civil rights violations that Brian Christopher Lawler suffered while he was in the custody of the Hardeman County Jail. He is further asking this court to order Hardeman County and its sheriff to implement policies and procedures at the Jail to protect other men and women from suffering similar violations in the future.”