Wrongful Death and Interference With a Funeral
The Hopewell Police Department and other authorities find themselves at the center of a $13 million dollar lawsuit filed by local mother Donna Watson. Donna says that her son Troy Howlett was working as a police informant when he died, and alleges that her son ingested drugs that the Hopewell Police Department forced him to buy while he was working undercover.
Colleen Quinn is dedicated to helping Donna achieve justice for her son and to help ensure that this does not happen to another family. Quinn said in a WRIC 8News article, “To use him as an informant, knowing they are sending him back in to purchase the thing he is most vulnerable about and could kill him, that’s just reckless.”
During Troy Howlett’s funeral, the Hopewell Police Department arrived to arrest Howlett’s best friend. Watson has now filed a companion lawsuit for damages from the incident. In the WRIC 8News article, Watson says, “I was so angry the next day because you can’t get a do-over”.