Judge Dismisses Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Joyce Meyer Ministries

On Tuesday an Illinois judge dismissed the wrongful death lawsuit against Joyce Meyer Ministries that involved the murder of her former bodyguard’s family. According to The Christian Post, Christopher Coleman, who worked for the ministry as Joyce Meyer’s bodyguard, was accused of killing his wife, Sheri, and their two sons, Garrett and Gavin, at their home in Columbia on May 5, 2009. Coleman was convicted by a jury in May 2011 and is serving out three life sentences without the possibility of parole.

The wrongful death lawsuit filed by Sheri Coleman’s family against Joyce Meyer Ministries claimed that the deaths could have been prevented if the organization had conducted a proper investigation into the email threats that attacked Sheri and her family. The lawsuit claimed that the ministry should have been aware that Coleman was a threat, because he was sending the threatening messages to his family from his employee-issued computer and cell phone.

In August, The Christian Post reported that the Joyce Meyer Ministries’ legal defense team noted that the ministry had indeed notified police, and a surveillance camera had even been set up to monitor the Coleman home, but unfortunately that had not been enough to prevent the murders.

During the murder trial, lawyers for Sheri’s family said that Coleman killed his wife and sons so that he could be with his mistress, Tara Lintz, and start a new life in Florida. They also said that he wanted to protect his job as a bodyguard working for Joyce Meyer Ministries, which he risked losing, if he filed for divorce. Coleman eventually resigned from his position at Joyce Meyer Ministries after being questioned about a violation of the ministry’s moral conduct policy.

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In 2011, Meyer testified that she was unaware that Coleman was having an affair until she was informed by the police.

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