Nashville police officer mishandled woman's case before she was fatally shot, internal investigation shows

A Nashville police officer admitted he could have done more the day 24-year-old Michaela Carter was gunned down by her estranged husband, according to an internal investigation.

The Office of Professional Accountability found Officer Jason Hees violated the Metro Nashville Police Department's policy on official obligations and provided "deficient or inefficient performance of duties." The report was finalized in June, seven months after Carter's death, and was recently made public in a lawsuit filed against the city.

The lawsuit alleges police wrongly told Carter they couldn't arrest her estranged husband James Leggett based on texts and calls when he violated an active order of protection in November 2021. They couldn't arrest him, they added, according to the lawsuit, even though he was seen near her family member's apartment carrying a gun.

The lawsuit was filed by Carter's mother, Kimberly Jones-Mbuyi, just a few days before the one-year mark of her daughter's death.

On November 15, 2021, Leggett made several vague, threatening Facebook posts, called Carter repeatedly, sent her numerous text messages from an unknown number and armed with a gun, showed up at the apartment complex where her cousin lived, according to the lawsuit.

Critical incident leave questions:Nashville police considers unit to answer them

Carter, who was with her mother, pulled over at a store and called police. Carter showed the officers, Hees and a trainee, the text messages, which contained personal photos of her. She also said she recognized his voice from the phone calls.

Officers told Carter to take a picture if Leggett showed up at her home, the lawsuit says. He did just 10 minutes after police left, kicked down two doors and shot Carter through the chest and leg. Her stepfather was also shot three times, according to court records. Carter died a week later and a day shy of her 25th birthday.

Leggett was captured and charged with criminal homicide; attempted criminal homicide;  aggravated assault; aggravated burglary; felon in possession of a weapon; aggravated stalking; aggravated assault with a deadly weapon; and four probation violations.

According to MNPD policy, officers should perform a "lethality screen" if there's been an act of domestic violence, the victim faces danger, the parties have been involved in a prior incident of domestic violence or they feel the situation is dangerous. After the shooting, MNPD did not comment when asked if the officers did a "lethality screen."

Hees, who responded to the call for help from Carter, had been with the department for over five years and was a field training officer for a rookie, according to the OPA investigative file.

When Carter called to report text messages from Leggett, Hees didn't document those or even look at them, according to the OPA investigation.

"Hees stated he did not feel it was appropriate to document a whole conversation or take pictures of text messages," the investigation report says.

He also didn't do a lethality assessment because he didn't know they pertained to orders of protection, the report says, but acknowledged he should have asked her to do one. Hees also told investigators that when they arrived at Carter's home, he stayed in the car while his trainee walked the area.

"There is no proof of this action on Body Worn Camera or In Car Camera," the report says.

Because the second officer was still a trainee, Hees was in charge of making sure all policies were followed that day, the report says.

According to the report, Hees should have:

• Asked more questions to confirm the sighting of Leggett around the home

• Attached evidence of the order of protection violation to his report

• Should have had Carter complete a lethality assessment

• Offered Carter counseling or shelter

• Contacted a supervisor that Leggett was suicidal and seen with a gun

"The facts of the case support FTO Jason Hees failed to follow through on numerous parts of his investigation with Ms. Carter," the report says. "While the missed investigative steps may not have resulted in a different outcome, the items should have been completed during his investigation with Mr. Carter."

Hees was suspended two days for the policy violation.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville police officer mishandled case before woman was killed by ex