Widow of Man Killed by Deputy Sues County : Courts: Lena D. Bray and her unborn child may seek more than $4 million in damages as a result of the May incident in Vista in which a sheriff’s reserve deputy mistook Jeffrey Bray’s vehicle as stolen.

The widow of Jeffrey Bray, who was shot and killed by a sheriff’s reserve deputy on May 18 after he drove into his Vista apartment complex, filed a lawsuit Monday in Vista Superior Court, seeking damages for wrongful death and a violation of his civil rights.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Lena D. Bray and her unborn child, sets the stage for either a settlement with the county or a civil trial. Previously, she filed a claim against the county that went unanswered and laid the foundation for Monday’s lawsuit.

The suit does not seek specific damages, but her attorney, Gerald Davee, said he will seek $3.5 million in general damages and $1.2 million in special damages for his client.

“This is about as good a case as I can think of,” Davee said.

Lena Bray, 26, said Monday she has requested and received an honorable discharge from the Navy and will return to her hometown of Guntersville, Ala., where she will live with her parents and seek a college degree in business.

Her baby is due in November.

“I want justice,” she said at a press conference at the site where her husband of eight months was killed. “I don’t want this to happen to anybody. This is the worst thing that could happen to anybody.”

Jeffrey Bray, 21, was shot after sheriff’s deputies mistook his red pickup for a stolen vehicle and followed him into the apartment complex in the 300 block of Pomelo Drive in Vista.

A witness who asked not to be identified told The Times that he was sitting in his own vehicle when Bray drove by him up the apartment driveway. The witness said that, after he yelled out to Bray to invite him to a barbecue, Bray stopped his car and abruptly backed up so the two could talk.

At that moment, however, Deputy Bill Fewell stopped his patrol car about 20 feet behind Bray, and the two cars collided when Bray backed up, according to the witness and the Sheriff’s Department.

Reserve Deputy John S. Wickham had gotten out of the passenger side of the car and shot at Bray three times with his 9-millimeter semi-automatic pistol through Bray’s back window, hitting him fatally in the head as the pickup collided with the patrol car.

The Sheriff’s Department later acknowledged that the deputies had tailed the wrong vehicle.

The Sheriff’s Department has turned over its own investigative report of the shooting to the district attorney’s office, which is reviewing it and conducting its own investigation to determine whether either of the deputies should be prosecuted, a spokesman said.

The FBI also is conducting its review of the shooting to determine whether Bray’s federal civil rights were violated, and the San Diego County Grand Jury has been asked to conduct an investigation as well.

Bray’s lawsuit contends, among other things, that the department was believed to have “had prior notice of the dangerous and violent propensities of (Fewell and Wickham) and failed to properly train them and to discourage their use of excessive force.”

The lawsuit also faulted the county for failing to adequately train the deputies in the procedure for following a suspected stolen car and in the use of deadly force.

The suit said the deputies gave no consideration to Bray’s civil rights and that their shooting “shocks the conscience.”

A spokesman for the Sheriff’s Department said he could not comment on the lawsuit because it is pending litigation.

The county has 30 days to respond, after which Davee said he would begin depositions and ask the Sheriff’s Department to turn over its investigative report for his review.