Slain Man’s Family Sues Texarkana Aluminum Over Workplace Shooting Death
TEXARKANA, Texas–A lawsuit brought by the family of a man who was shot and killed in May on the Texarkana Aluminum campus in Nash, Texas, alleges the company’s negligence contributed to the preventable tragedy.
Eddie Ray Hill Jr., 48, was killed by convicted murderer Wendell Lane Champion Jr., 40, in the Texarkana Aluminum parking lot shortly after Hill arrived at work on May 12. Wendell Champion made it through fencing and security into the enclosed employee parking area where he confronted his wife, Candis Jolene Champion, and held her at gunpoint, according to a lawsuit filed by the family.
Hill’s wife, mother, children and estate initially filed suit in Bowie County but the case was removed to federal court in the Eastern District of Texas on Tuesday by Texarkana Aluminum and its corporate owner, Ta Chen International Inc., court records show.
The Hill family faults a complete breakdown in security and a poor threat response by Texarkana Aluminum for their loved one’s death.
They allege that Candis Champion, a supervisor at Texarkana Aluminum, was well aware of her husband’s propensity for violence and that he presented a “foreseeable risk of serious bodily injury or death if he appeared at the workplace.”
They allege that Wendell Champion was able to get on the property despite “security personnel, controlled access, surveillance systems, and security procedures designed to prevent unauthorized persons from entering the property.”
The family further alleges that after Wendell Champion began escorting Candis Champion at gunpoint toward a car, the company had time to warn employees about the danger but didn’t.
“The confrontation unfolded over a sufficient period to allow defendants to recognize the escalating emergency, summon law enforcement, restrict access to the area, warn arriving employees, and implement emergency response procedures,” the lawsuit alleges. “Defendants employed a chief security officer, maintained surveillance cameras throughout the facility, and recorded the events as they unfolded.”
The company’s surveillance cameras captured Wendell Champion walking with Candis Champion at gunpoint with witnesses following behind before Hill arrived and was shot, the lawsuit states.
“Plaintiffs allege that defendants possessed the personnel, authority, technology, and opportunity to recognize the imminent danger and intervene before Eddie Ray Hill, Jr. was shot,” the lawsuit states.
Hill was allegedly attempting to help Candis Champion when he was fatally shot by Wendell Champion. After killing Hill, Wendell Champion shot and wounded Candis Champion before turning the gun on himself and ending his life.
Wendell Champion had initially been charged with capital murder in the course of a robbery in Harris County, Texas, in 2007, court records show. In 2010 he pleaded guilty to the lesser offense of first-degree murder and accepted a sentence of 30 years. He was released on parole in 2025.
“Plaintiffs allege that defendants failed to implement, enforce, and follow reasonable workplace violence prevention policies, emergency response procedures, security protocols, and access-control measures,” the lawsuit states. “Defendants’ failures allowed an armed and dangerous individual to enter and remain on a secured industrial facility, permitted a violent confrontation to escalate unchecked, and ultimately resulted in the preventable death of Eddie Ray Hill, Jr.”
The family is seeking compensation for the loss of their loved one and the loss of his future contributions and companionship, as well as for the pain and suffering Hill experienced in the moments before his death.
The defendants have filed a one-page answer to the Hill family’s lawsuit denying all allegations.
The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Robert Schroeder III and referred to U.S. Magistrate Judge James Boone Baxter.
The family is represented by Nuru Lateef Witherspoon of the Witherspoon Law Group PLLC. TCI Texarkana Inc., doing business as Texarkana Aluminum, and Ta Chen International Inc. are represented by Jeffrey Dwayne Smith of Fletcher Farley Shipman & Salinas LLP.