SPENCER — A lawsuit was filed Thursday on behalf of the estate of Michael Nichols, a man who was shot and killed in October by a deputy sheriff in Roane County.

The lawsuit, filed against Deputy Michael King, former Sheriff L. Todd Cole and the Roane County Commission, claims Nichols’ death was “entirely unnecessary,” as described by Nichols’ daughter.

King responded to Nichols’ residence at 2026 Kettle Road in Roane County on Oct. 22 after receiving a call from Nichols’ neighbor, the suit said. The neighbor called King on his personal cell phone and on his day off, according to the suit.

“Deputy King called the 911 Center, but did not provide sufficient information about (the neighbor’s) communication,” the suit said. “King did not provide detail regarding the nature of the call about Michael Nichols, what King planned to do, or any other information sufficient to inform the workers at the 911 Center as to the situation at hand.”

After the 911 Center informed King certain officers weren’t available, King decided to respond to the call, the suit said.

“According to the 911 operator, this type of rogue response is routine for King,” the suit said. “Defendant King and other deputies routinely take calls directly from citizens and then refuse to provide information to the 911 Center as required.”

King then went to Nichols’ residence alone without having obtained a warrant or claiming he was on duty, the suit said.

The suit claims King did not follow up with the caller and found Nichols standing unarmed on his porch.

King shot Nichols three times, once in the chest, once at a downward angle toward his pelvis and once by “placing his gun barrel against Michael’s cheek and shooting him through the face downward into his chest cavity,” the suit said.

The Roane County Sheriff’s Department claimed Nichols moved toward a weapon, the suit said.

“More specifically, an old BB gun was wedged under the porch railing — and affixed thereto as a railing spindle — as decoration,” the suit said. “It had been there for quite some time but was removed by King or other officers after Michael was killed.”

The suit claims King had been to Nichols’ residence prior and knew the BB gun was a decoration.

“There was absolutely no sign or evidence of physical struggle between Deputy King and Michael at the scene or on Michael’s deceased body,” the suit said.

Last November, Nichols’ family urged the sheriff’s department to release body camera footage of the incident, but according to the suit, King had failed, as he had in the past, to wear his body camera.

“In fact, Deputy King rarely wears a uniform, and instead patrols Roane County in jeans and a t-shirt or other casual clothes, which necessarily creates confusion in the minds of citizens as to whether King is acting in his official capacity or not,” the suit said

The lawsuit named other occurrences of reports and lawsuits against King for his alleged violent behavior.

In King’s 15 years of employment through the Roane County Sheriff’s Department, the suit claims several complaints have been voiced to the Roane County Commissions and former Sheriff Cole.

The estate of Nichols is seeking compensation for sorrow, loss of income, pain and suffering, the expense related to care and treatment to the deceased, funeral expenses, punitive damages and attorney costs and fees.

Messages for comment to Cole, the Roane County Sheriff’s Department and the Roane County Commission president were not immediately returned.

Candice Black can be reached at cblack@newsandsentinel.com.