Family of Off-duty Lincoln, AL, Firefighter Suing Neighbor who Fired Fatal Shot

Lincoln Fire Lt. Thomas Farmer and his dog were shot and killed on their property by a neighbor, was charged with resckless manslaughter.

By Carol Robinson

Source al.com (TNS)

Oct. 20, 2025

2 min read

The family of an Alabama firefighter attorneys say was shot to death during a dispute with his neighbor has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the suspect.

The deadly shooting happened Oct. 25, 2023, killing 47-year-old Lincoln Fire Lt. Thomas Farmer.

Ramon Lee Feazell Jr., 58, is charged with reckless manslaughter in Farmer’s slaying. His trial is set for December in Calhoun County.

Birmingham attorney James R. Moncus III filed the wrongful lawsuit Friday on behalf of Thomas’s wife, April Dawn Johnson Farmer.

“Feazell intentionally or negligently or wantonly or intentionally fired a deadly weapon (at Thomas) at close range with the intent to kill,” the lawsuit states.

Thomas, who served roughly 20 years as a firefighter and paramedic in Lincoln, had just finished his shift when the shooting happened.

He stopped at his son’s school and dropped off medicine for him before getting home.

When Thomas arrived at his home about 9:30 a.m., he heard a gunshot from the direction of the adjoining parcel to his property.

He told his wife, who was at work, that he feared Harley, their Norwegian Elkhound, had been shot and he was going to check, according to the suit.

“That was their last call,” Moncus said in the lawsuit.

Thomas went to the property where he encountered Feazell. Harley was dead nearby.

“In the confrontation that followed, Feazell produced a handgun and shot Thomas in the upper chest,” according to the lawsuit.

“Thomas collapsed on his own land and died at the scene.”

First responders confiscated four handguns from Feazell.

Moncus said investigators to Thomas’s wife that Feazell claimed self-defense and said he shot the dog because it supposedly attacked him while he was fishing.

“Harley was a 50-pound Norwegian Elkhound, nothing but a loving furball who would never attack or seek to threaten anyone,” the lawsuit states.

“No meaningful criminal consequence occurred for months,” according to the suit. “Meanwhile, April and Rilee faced life without their husband and father.”

The lawsuit alleges that Feazell’s conduct was “outrageous” and the plaintiffs are seeking a minimum of $50 million in damages.