A Richmond Hill mother is suing the city and an officer with the Richmond Hill Police Department claiming they are to blame for the 2011 suicide of her teenage daughter.

Hinesville attorney Carl R. Varnedoe filed the wrongful death suit Feb. 11 in state court on behalf of Laura Lane Maia, the mother of Sydney Lane Sanders who took her own life in April 2011. Maia is seeking damages in the amount of $5 million.

The suit claims Sanders’ death was the result of a combination of negligence and tortious misconduct of the Richmond Hill mayor and City Council and Cpl. Doug Sahlberg with the Richmond Hill Police Department.

According to the lawsuit, Sahlberg obtained pictures of an unsuccessful suicide attempt by Sanders on or about Feb. 14, 2011, that he later showed to his own teenage daughter, a fellow student of Sanders. The suit also claims that Sahlberg’s daughter told other fellow students about the photographs, which led to Sanders’ suicide on April 5, 2011.

See more in the Feb. 23 edition of the News.