On November 24, 2021, Sheriff Mark Moon and Sergeant Anthony Economes released McKee from the Blount County Jail, despite a judge’s no-bond order preventing his release, according to the complaint. The next day, McKee murdered his wife and shot himself.
The case, brought against the sheriff, two deputies and a sergeant by the administrator of Susie McKee’s estate, Brandi King, was filed in federal court in Alabama’s Northern District in November of 2021. Last month federal judge Annemarie Carney Axon granted a motion to send a legal question about sheriff’s immunity to the state supreme court for clarification — whether sheriffs are entitled to state immunity as individuals in cases including damages.
One group of state employees, called state agents, which includes most state workers, like DHR staff, and law enforcement officers other than sheriffs, have what’s called state agent immunity. State agents are not immune from lawsuits when they act fraudulently or make decisions outside of the scope of their authority or the law.
During their 31 years together, Ricky Rae McKee physically and emotionally abused his wife, Delilah Sue McKee, called Susie, according to the complaint. “He promised to look after Susie, but did not investigate her reports of abuse,” the complaint states. On October 18, Ricky McKee applied to the sheriff’s department to renew his pistol permit, but the sheriff denied it without court approval. The next month, McKee followed his wife to a bar, violating the restraining order by photographing her. A few days later, he stole her car while she was inside the bar. He made her ride with him to get her car, and then parked his car in front of hers, blocking her into her driveway, according to the complaint.