Nathaniel Richmond, the man killed Monday after he ambushed and wounded an Ohio judge, believed the judge had dismissed a lawsuit he had brought against the county, officials said Wednesday.
Jefferson County Common Pleas Judge Joseph J. Bruzzese Jr. was shot Monday as he walked toward the Jefferson County Courthouse, and both the judge and a probation officer returned fire, fatally wounding Richmond.
Richmond filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Bruzzese's court in April, alleging that the Jefferson Metropolitan Housing Authority was responsible for the death of his mother, Mae E. Richmond, in a house fire in 2015. A hearing is scheduled for Aug. 28 in which the judge was to consider the housing authority's motion to dismiss all punitive damages and one charge.
Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdalla said Wednesday that Richmond mistakenly believed the judge had dismissed the case. "There was a misunderstanding. According to (Richmond's) family members, his attorney called him last week saying there was a motion to dismiss the case," Abdalla said. "They thought this case was thrown out _ that (Bruzzese) threw the case out." The judge never heard the case.
Richmond had a passenger in his car when he came to the courthouse Monday. Steubenville City Manager James Mavromatis confirmed that the passenger was Curtis Golsby. No charges have been filed against Golsby, a convicted felon, Mavromatis said.
Mavromatis said that he had run into Richmond at the Jefferson Metropolitan Housing Authority. He said Richmond was "concerned about the fire" in which his mother died. Richmond thought "that there may have been evidence destroyed. I said, 'Nate, let the fire investigators do their job. You won't get an answer overnight on this.'"
