Gina Angela Shoemaker, a 46-year-old female, tragically lost her life on November 23, 2014, in Mt. Jackson, Virginia. On that Sunday, Shoemaker was visiting her mother, Dorothy Nesselrodt, at her home on Charlotte Lane in Shenandoah County. What began as a peaceful visit ended in unforeseen horror due to activities taking place on a neighboring property.
Living next to Shoemaker's mother were Richard and Anna Funkhouser.
Their adult grandson, Shawn Jason Nicely, was visiting them and had been given permission to engage in target practice with a rifle on their nearly eight-acre property. Nicely was firing the weapon in the direction of Nesselrodt's residence. Tragically, one of the bullets penetrated the walls of the house and struck Gina Shoemaker, inflicting a fatal wound.
Following the devastating incident, the administrator of Gina Shoemaker's estate filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Funkhousers. The lawsuit alleged that the Funkhousers were negligent in permitting their grandson to shoot in the direction of a known residence. The case initially faced a setback when a circuit court dismissed it, citing that the landowners had no duty to protect individuals from the actions of a third party on their property.
However, the legal battle did not end there. The estate appealed the decision to the Supreme Court of Virginia. In a significant ruling on March 25, 2021, the Supreme Court reversed the lower court's dismissal. The higher court determined that landowners do have a limited responsibility to prevent activities on their property that could cause harm to people off their property. This decision revived the civil case and remanded it back to the lower court for further proceedings. There is no readily available public information detailing any criminal charges or arrests made in connection with the shooting.
