The Kirkland parents of a woman who was killed by a man who had mistakenly been released early from prison announced Tuesday that they are suing the state Department of Corrections.
Lindsay Hill was killed in a hit-and-run in November 2015. Hill’s boyfriend and convicted felon Robert Jackson was found guilty for her death and was sentenced to life in prison last month.
Hill’s parents, Craig and Jane Noel, of Kirkland, filed a tort claim Jan. 10 on behalf of their two grandsons, arguing that the department was negligent in releasing Jackson early.
“With a violent record and a history of dangerous driving, Jackson was exactly the kind of felon who was a danger to society and should have been confined from the public for the full length of his court-mandated sentence,” Mike Wampold, the attorney representing the Noels, said in a statement. “Instead, Lindsay and her children have been left to pay the steepest of prices for the state’s negligence.”
The Noels contend that the boys and their mother suffered four months of physical and emotional abuse following Jackson’s release. The elder child found Hill’s body after the crash and suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, according to court documents.
The claim is the first step in suing the Department of Corrections.
Shortly after Jackson’s arrest, it was revealed that he had accidentally been released early from prison due to a computer error that the Department of Corrections had been aware of for over a decade.
Jackson should have been in prison at the time of Hill’s death. His conviction for Hill’s death was his third strike.
“Lindsay Hill’s death was tragic and eminently preventable,” Wampold said. “The Department of Corrections and the Attorney General’s office knew about this problem and did nothing — watching as a dangerous, violent two-strike felon like Robert Jackson was released into society prematurely.”
Approximately 80 inmates who were mistakenly released from prison early went on to commit other crimes.
The Department of Corrections has 60 days to respond to the claim.
