BOULDER CITY (KTNV) — A widow is suing Boulder City, the Boulder City Police Department, and multiple officers, citing allegations that police botched the investigation into the death of her husband.
Scott Dingman was shot and killed in the street on May 31, 2021 by John Powell Morgan III in Boulder City. The case was originally closed after Boulder City police ruled Morgan shot Dingman in self-defense.
As 13 Investigates previously reported, the Dingman family has alleged that officers contaminated evidence and failed to document key crime scene information among other claims. After 13 Investigates began looking into the case, Boulder City police reopened the homicide investigation.
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On Sunday, attorneys filed a new federal civil lawsuit on behalf of Scott's wife, Ashley, the couple's son, and Wade Seekatz, a consultant on the case who is in a relationship with Ashley.
In the lawsuit, Ashley's attorneys allege officers did not render aid to Scott, who was lying on the ground for more than seven minutes before officers checked to see if he had any vital signs.
"Rather than taking steps to check Scott for signs of life and rendering aid, after handcuffing and searching J.P., [Officer Kenny] Calzada attended to trivial matters such as marking evidence and moving Scott's gun away from him, 'just in case he woke up and started shooting again,'" the lawsuit reads in part. "This demonstrates that Calzada did not know whether Scott was alive or dead, but still refused to attempt to render aid to him."
When an officer did approach Scott, Dingman's attorneys claim they only tapped his side.
"No medical or first responder training states that if you tap someone and they do not respond, that no further evaluation is necessary," the lawsuit states. "To the contrary, the only way to check for signs of life, without the aid of other equipment is to check for a pulse, which is the first thing that medical personnel did when they arrived on scene, even though they had been told that Scott was already dead."
Forensic tests proved Dingman's gun was never fired, which the experts say undermines the self-defense claim. The lawsuit also states that even though only one officer reported handling Dingman's gun, body-worn camera footage "reflects that the gun was handled at least 6 separate times by officers on scene."
Additionally, although Morgan's home security cameras may have shown critical evidence, police never seized the footage, even though, according to the lawsuit, "multiple Defendants on scene reviewed the video surveillance from the inside of J.P.'s house and discussed it amongst themselves."
The lawsuit also claims that Boulder City police had Morgan's cell phone from May 31, 2021 to July 19, 2021 but the footage on the phone was "not obtained due to alleged technical difficulties in navigating the program on J.P.'s phone."
WATCH: 13 Investigates follows up after family members claim reopened shooting investigation has stalled
Attorneys also allege that police did not keep accurate records. For example, the lawsuit questions the accuracy of the crime scene logs.
The lawsuit states, "this record-keeping appears to be more focused on covering up the shoddy investigation rather than laying out the facts. For instance, in BWC footage, [Officer] Pastore says to [Officer] Calzada, who is filling out a crime scene log — used to document everyone who enters the crime scene — "You are putting all the same times, right?" They then discuss the times and Pastore tells Calzada "just to make it easy, just to even it off."
Pastore could be heard on police body camera footage from other officers on scene stating he was familiar with Morgan and the lawsuit states they were on the board of directors together at Boulder City Horseman's Arena.
According to the lawsuit, when an officer told Morgan that he works with Pastore, Morgan replied they were "very f—ing close."
"Pastore was left alone to wander the crime scene for several hours — which was not reflected in the crime scene logs — and despite the fact that other Defendants knew of his relationship with J.P.," the lawsuit states. "Even more curiously, Pastore did not turn on his own BWC — in subsequent investigations, Boulder City determined that this was excusable because Pastore did not have a 'crucial role' in the investigation."
Following 13 Investigates looking into this case, three people involved in the initial case retired: Det. Mark Dubois — who previously introduced a theory other than self-defense; Officer Scott Pastore — whom the family has accused of conflict of interest; and Ruby Perkins, the records department manager suspected of leaking information about the investigation to the Morgan family. All three are named as defendants in the new lawsuit.
In 2024, Morgan's ex-girlfriend, Cheralee Seekatz, who goes by Christy, filed a police report in Texas saying she saw evidence that Morgan intended to kill Dingman and "believes it was a murder and she is afraid that she will be targeted because she is aware of this."
That statement led Boulder City Police Sgt. Chris Slack to seek a search warrant in connection with Dingman's death.
The search warrant application states, "Christy also recalled while looking at some of the videos, JP laughed while insulting the Police Department investigators for not reviewing and/or collecting the videos as evidence at the time of the investigation."
In the search warrant affidavit, Sgt. Slack cites "probable cause that evidence of a murder allegedly committed on May 31, 2021 would be found."
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When the search warrant was carried out on Morgan's home, police seized four laptops, two external hard drives, multiple flash drives and memory cards, cocaine and drug paraphernalia, and dozens of weapons.
Morgan has since alleged that the search warrant is defective.
As for what happens next, when it comes to the federal civil lawsuit, no hearing dates have been set as of Tuesday afternoon.
Channel 13 has reached out to Boulder City for a statement, and a city spokesperson told us the city does not comment on pending litigation.
As for Morgan's drug case, the next hearing is scheduled for next Tuesday.
