A vote this afternoon in the state House of Representatives clears the way for the estate of slain Newington police officer Ciara McDermott to file a lawsuit against the state.
McDermott was shot to death in her West Hartford home in November of 2005 by her former boyfriend, Connecticut state trooper Victor Diaz, who then killed himself.
The claims commissioner denied McDermott's estate permission to sue, so the estate turned to the legislature, which overturned the commissioner's decision by a vote of 134 to 10. The vote isn't an endorsement of the lawsuit nor does it award the estate any money; it simply allows the lawsuit to proceed.
Diaz shot McDermott, 30, three times inside her home at 348 Ridgewood Road in West Hartford after waiting for several hours for her to come home from work. He then retreated to an upstairs bedroom and killed himself. Diaz, 37, used a .40-caliber Glock , the same gun that state police had confiscated from him when he was arrested by Cromwell police in March 2005 on charges of drunken driving and resisting arrest. The gun was Victor Diaz's personal weapon, even though he had no permit to carry it.
When Diaz was suspended following an internal affairs investigation into the Cromwell arrest, state police say, they turned the gun over to Diaz' brother, Edwin, because he had a valid gun permit. Why the state police returned the gun to Edwin Diaz when they knew Victor was living in Edwin's Windsor home is the crux of the McDermott family's claim that state police were negligent.
During a brief debate on the House floor, some lawmakers questioned the state's culpability.