Published: December 31, 2008 08:10 am      

Wrongful death suit filed over bar shooting

By Lacie Morrison
lmorrison@mineralwellsindex.com

PALO PINTO – Seventeen days after a Mingus man died from a gunshot wound, his family filed a civil suit against the man accused of killing him and the owner of the bar where it occurred.

The shooting death of Kevin Matthew Parsons, 44, reportedly occurred at approximately 2 a.m. Dec. 5 at the Mule Lip Bar in the 100 block of South Mingus Boulevard in Mingus. At the time of the incident, county officials reported that Will James Copeland told authorities Parsons wouldn’t leave the bar and he reportedly went to his vehicle. From the vehicle, he allegedly retrieved the weapon and returned to the bar. Officials said there was a struggle for the weapon between Copeland and Parsons when the shot was fired, striking the victim in the head. Parsons was declared dead at the scene and a 20-gauge double barrel shotgun was reportedly recovered at the scene.

Copeland, 50, of Strawn, was arrested less than 12 hours later and charged with murder intentionally causing death, a first-degree felony. He bonded out of Palo Pinto County Jail later on Dec. 5 after posting a $250,000 bond.

According to documents filed with the district clerk’s office, attorney Robert Glasgow, of Stephenville, is representing Lesa Parsons, two minor children and Dean Parsons, the father of the deceased, in a lawsuit filed against Copeland and Kathy Dickens, owner of Mule Lip Bar. The documentation states that “Parsons, the decedent, died as a result of the defendants’ wrongful conduct.”

In the suit, the plaintiffs claim there was negligence from both defendants. The original petition claims Copeland “had a duty to exercise the degree of care that a reasonably careful person would use to avoid harm to others …” but was negligent by breaching the peace on the premises, engaging in dangerous conduct involving a deadly weapon and bringing a deadly weapon into a public establishment that serves alcohol and “causing the decedent’s homicide,” among other things.

The petition also lists Dickens as negligent by serving Kevin Parsons “when he was intoxicated, by allowing [Copeland] to breach the peace on the premises,” and failing to provide a safe environment for the patrons, among other things.

According to the petition filed, the plaintiffs are seeking “their entitlement to punitive/exemplary damages to the maximum amount allowed by law for the gross negligence …” from both defendants.

Dickens told the Index Monday she didn’t have any knowledge of the suit filed. A phone call to Copeland’s residence seeking comment was not answered Monday afternoon.