Cocke County, TN (WOKI / WVLT) The parents of a woman who was shot and killed by a Cocke County Sheriff’s Office deputy and a Parrottsville Police Department officer have filed a lawsuit seeking millions of dollars in damages.

Whitney Fox was shot more than a dozen times in May of last year during a traffic stop. According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, CCSO Deputy Lt. Maxwell Laughter and PPD Officer Rodney Hazelwood were looking for Whitney Fox because she was wanted on an outstanding drug charge. The officers reportedly saw her driving out of a business when they chased her, prompting her to pull into a field off a rural county road.

Body camera footage from the stop shows the officers exit their cruisers, guns drawn, and approach Whitney Fox in her car. The situation escalated from there, prompting the officers to shoot Whitney Fox 22 times, hitting the woman 13 times. 

Her parents, Troy and Jeanene Fox, claim the officers were unjustified in killing their daughter; they say the two did not attempt to deescalate the situation, either during the stop or when they first saw Whitney Fox.

Neither officer was found criminally responsible for Whitney Fox’s death. District Attorney General David Clark found in November of 2023 that both officers were justified in believing they were in danger.

The Foxes are are asking for a total of $8.5 million in damages.