Kin of 2019 shooting victim sue convicted wife

HOT SPRINGS — Three children of a Hot Springs man shot and killed by his wife in 2019 have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against her in Garland County Circuit Court.

Kristen Hageness of Arizona and Megan and Ethan Hageness, both of Colorado, filed the suit on June 20 against Elizabeth Hageness, 60, for the June 19, 2019, shooting death of their father, Brian P. Hageness, 61.

Elizabeth Hageness admitted to the killing at the scene that day to Hot Springs police and during testimony at her murder trial, claiming she acted in self-defense.

Elizabeth Hageness was convicted of second-degree murder on April 14 and sentenced to 20 years in prison after a four-day trial in Garland County Circuit Court. An allegation of juror misconduct was made on April 18 by one of the jurors involving another juror, Katrina Robertson, resulting in a hearing on May 11 where Judge Marcia Hearnsberger declared a mistrial and ordered a new trial for Hageness.

The lawsuit seeks “survival and wrongful death claims arising from the defendant’s unlawful shooting of Brian Hageness on June 19, 2019, resulting in his death.”

The suit alleges Elizabeth Hageness acted “negligently and with malicious intent” in shooting Brian Hageness and “had full knowledge that her unlawful actions would likely result” in his death.

The suit notes Brian Hageness was 61 at the time of his death “with an average life expectancy of 78.79 years.”

It alleges that each of the three adult children “have suffered extraordinary mental anguish due to the violent nature of (their father’s) wrongful death and the resulting aftermath, including attending and being witness to the criminal trial of (Elizabeth Hageness), which has caused the surviving children to constantly relive the violent death of their father by the hands of the defendant.”