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Residents oppose
deputy who killed man
SPOTSYLVANIA — A group of Spotsylvania County residents has criticized Sheriff T.C. Waddy for his hiring of a white deputy who fatally shot a black man while working as a Fredericksburg police officer in 1981.
Waddy met for about two hours Thursday night with Spotsylvania Concerned Citizens for Action, a predominantly black group formed to protest the hiring of Deputy Kenneth W. Jones. Waddy told the crowd of about 120 people he may have acted too hastily in hiring Jones, but stopped short of promising any action.
“If I had to do it over, I would think more and check more before I did it,” he said. “But before you can fire a person, there has to be some reason. You can’t just walk up to a man and say, ‘You’re fired.”’
The group presented Waddy with petitions signed by 992 county residents who oppose the Sept. 4 hiring of Jones. The petitioners asked Waddy to remove the deputy from the force as soon as possible.
Six years ago, Jones shot and killed 28-yearold William D. Watkins while serving a warrant for non-support. Watkins was shot three times in the chest. Jones said Watkins attacked him with a hammer.
Jones was charged with murder but was cleared when a judge ruled there was insufficient evidence against him.
Fredericksburg police fired Jones after the Watkins shooting. Jones later was awarded $27,000 by a federal court jury that ruled he had been discriminated against when he was dismissed. A judge, however, refused to reinstate Jones to the police force.
Waddy admitted he failed to check references at Fort A.P. Hill, where Jones, now 45, worked as a game warden for six years., ..
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