COLUMBUS, Ga. ( WRBL ) — A federal court jury last Thursday in Columbus awarded a Tennessee woman more than $20 million dollars in a wrongful death case.
The civil case stemmed from the 2019 Harris County homicide of George Hale Bickerstaff III.
In July 2019, Michael Neely shot the 60-year Bickerstaff to death outside Bickerstaff’s home off Mulberry Grove Road.
Neely was never charged criminally in the matter, claiming self-defense.
Bickerstaff’s only child Necole Vazquez-Klecha, who lives in Tennessee, brought a wrongful death suit in U.S. District Court, Middle District of Georgia, against Neely and Bickerstaff’s younger sister Elizabeth Ann Bickerstaff.
The case was tried last week by U.S. District Court Judge Clay Land. The found that Neely — Elizabeth Ann Bickerstaff’s common law husband — was 100 percent responsible for George Bickerstaff’s death.
Elizabeth Bickerstaff had been previously dismissed from the lawsuit.
Columbus attorney Teresa Tomlinson of Hall, Booth, Smith represented George Bickerstaff’s daughter. Tomlinson argued that George Bickerstaff’s remaining years were worth nearly $7 million dollars. The jury reached a verdict of almost triple that.