Widow of Chad Read makes plea for justice

Jennifer Read held a canvas portrait of her and her late husband, Chad Read, and made a plea for justice.

Read described her husband as a loving father and a good husband.

“I loved him more than anything in this world,” she said through tears “Please, please I ask the police to take action. I ask the Attorney General's office to take action.”

Read had two sons and a daughter, she said.

The grieving widow spoke outside the Lubbock National Bank Building in downtown Lubbock across the road from the Lubbock County Courthouse, where a news conference set up by her lawyer, Tony Buzbee of Houston, was initially planned.

A crowd of about 30 people gathered at the news conference. Some held signs seeking justice for Chad Read. Another sign read, “Where’s my son?” a reference to Read’s question to his ex-wife in a viral video that recorded his death.

More: Widow of Chad Read files wrongful death suit against Kyle Carruth, judge files recusal

Jennifer Read spoke after Buzbee, who is representing her in a wrongful death lawsuit against Kyle Carruth, a Lubbock land developer and the ex-husband of 72nd District Judge Anne Marie Carruth, criticized how Lubbock police handled the investigation into Chad Read’s Nov. 5 fatal shooting and the delays in the civil case.

The shooting, which was caught on video recorded by Jennifer Read, resulted from an argument over a custody dispute between Chad Read and his ex-wife at a residence in the 2100 block of 90th Street, where her boyfriend, Kyle Carruth, runs three businesses.

“Jennifer Read watched her unarmed husband get gunned down and killed in front of her eyes,” Buzbee said. “We want action.”

Read said she and her husband went to Carruth’s property to pick up Chad Read’s son, who was supposed to be with his father an hour earlier as part of a custody agreement.

“We only went there to try and find his son who we thought would be there,” she said. “Chad was not a violent man. He did not have a gun.”

The video of the shooting, released by Jennifer Read on Nov. 24, shows Chad Read arguing with his ex-wife, who said their son was at her mother’s home.

During the argument, Carruth is seen entering the property and emerging moments later armed with a rifle, telling Read to leave the property.

Read and Carruth argue chest to chest, with Read daring Carruth to use the weapon. Carruth could be seen firing a shot on the ground near Read’s feet and Read grabs the barrel of the weapon.

During the struggle, Carruth is pushed a few feet away while still holding the rifle, spins around, aims at Read and fires twice.

Read drops to the ground. He is later pronounced dead at the scene, according to police officials.

Buzbee said during the news conference that Carruth’s actions were unreasonable, irresponsible and negligent.

He said he believed the video clearly showed that the shooting was unjustified.

“Kyle Carruth made a decision to come outside and interject himself into a conversation that he had no part of with a weapon," Buzbee said. "We believe that decision was unreasonable and that decision was negligent.”

He said Carruth’s claims of self defense are unfounded. He said nowhere in the video does Carruth say he was in fear of his life.

“You cannot interject violence into a situation and then claim self defense,” he said.

He said Carruth also failed to give aid to Read after the shooting. Instead, he can be seen standing next to Read, who was bleeding on the ground, justifying his actions.

"None of you all should be here. I asked you to leave. I did everything ... I did not want to do any of this," Carruth could be heard saying.

Buzbee said Carruth should have been arrested.

“The rules are very clear in most police department's across the country,” he said. “When there's a shooting and a death an arrest is made, period. No arrest was made here.”

Lubbock Police Department officials declined to comment after the news conference.

At present, no charges have been filed in the shooting and Lubbock police officials have turned over their files on the case to the Texas Attorney General’s Office, which is now investigating the case. The Lubbock County District Attorney’s Office has recused itself from the case.

Buzbee said he believed the wrongful death lawsuit he filed spurred action from the Texas Attorney General’s Office.

“I've had conversations with the attorney general himself and he assures me that this is going to be thoroughly investigated, and if charges are warranted they will be brought. I'm going to hold him to that,” he said. “Jennifer's going to hold him to that.”

Buzbee said he believed the publicity surrounding the case won’t jeopardize the ongoing investigation.

“I think that the more light that you shine on a situation, the more likely it is you're' going to get action,” he said.

Meanwhile, he said the civil suit against Carruth is also facing delays.

Les Hatch, the judge of the 237th District Court where Reads’ wrongful death lawsuit was assigned, recused himself from the case. Buzbee said he believed Ana Esteves, judge of the Ninth Administrative Judicial Region, which includes Lubbock, will assign a new judge to the case next week.

“How do you think that makes Jennifer Read feel?” Buzbee asked.

Buzbee ended his statement with a request for people with information on the case to come forward with information or evidence on the shooting.

“If you have evidence, no matter how small, we want to have it. We're easy to find,” he said. “If you have texts with Kyle Carruth, or any of his relatives, we want them. We believe that there was animosity on the part of Kyle Carruth against Chad Read that existed long before Nov. 5. We believe that there were things said by the perpetrator, Kyle Carruth, long before Nov. 5th about Chad Read.”

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Chad Read widow calls for action in fatal shooting involving Kyle Carruth