Jury Awards $195 Million in Damages to Family of Slain Deputy in Highlands County
Sebring, FL — A Highlands County jury awarded a staggering $195.3 million on Wednesday to the family of the late William Gentry Jr., a sheriff’s deputy who was fatally shot in 2018. The hefty sum consists of $12.3 million in compensatory damages with an additional $183 million designated as punitive damages. The tragic incident occurred when Joseph Ables, a resident of Placid Lakes, fatally shot Deputy Gentry. The confrontation took place on Ables’ front porch while Gentry was responding to a complaint about a neighbor’s cat that Ables had allegedly shot. Reports indicate that Gentry … Read more