Avery Marshall and his fiance, Alisa Carr, were at home the night of April 10, 2024, when SWAT team officers of the Lee County Sheriff’s Department busted through their front door, throwing two flash-bang grenades into their home.
One grenade bounced off of Marshall’s chest and exploded next to a couch - setting it ablaze. Officers ransacked the house while firearms were aimed at Marshall, Carr, and their two children, one nine-year-old and one 16-year-old.
Carr, who was being interrogated in the kitchen at the time, started experiencing heart palpitations from the fumes and the commotion. Police did not believe her when she said she could not breathe.
They continued to question Carr – who had suffered two heart attacks in the past – before calling an ambulance.
The raid went on as Carr was transported to the hospital. Marshall, who had recently had back surgery, lay on the glass-covered floor, shirtless – at gunpoint and eventually handcuffed – before getting yanked off the ground, reinjuring his back.
This all occurred because the Lee County Sheriff’s Department was looking for a suspect accused of breaking into several cars.
Police believed the suspect’s phone pinged within 52 meters of Marshall’s residence, but at least five other properties fell within that radius in the Pender County community of Willard.
The officers targeted their home because they believed Carr’s vehicle matched that of the suspect’s.
However, Carr’s Nissan sedan was a different model and 10 years newer than the car they were looking for. Her car was also under a different license plate and VIN number, and was registered at her address, which was separate from Marshall’s.
The Sheriff’s department moved forward with attaining a search warrant for the wrongfully suspected home, failing to tell the magistrate those details about the car.
The actual suspect was apprehended the next day in a different county.
The family has linked with the Institute for Justice, a nonprofit law firm that aims to ‘end abuses of power” and hold government officials accountable, to help them seek compensation from the damage, as described in a release from the nonprofit:
“[Marshall, Carr] and the kids continue to struggle mentally and emotionally from the raid, and they’ve been unable to afford the necessary repairs for the house. The storm door is still shattered and off the frame, the front door still has a dent from the battering ram, the doorframe is still shattered, mold has grown near the front door because of moisture getting in through the damaged door and doorframe, and holes remain from where sledgehammers were used.”
Marshall and Carr’s complaint lists Lee County Sheriff Brian Estes, and Pender County Sheriff Alan Cutler as defendants in their official capacities.
Other defendants include: Captain Nazareth Hankins, Detective Sergeant J. Dylan Thomas and John Does in their individual and official capacities, as well as Pender and Lee counties.
WHQR called and left voicemails for both Pender and Lee county sheriff’s offices and is awaiting a response. It is common for local governments and law enforcement agencies to decline to comment on pending litigation, but WHQR will uipdate this or future reporting with any response we do recevie.
