Family, friends create memorial for man shot & killed by Allegan County sheriff's deputy
HOPKINS, Mich. — A memorial banner, cross and bouquets of flowers now serve as a quiet reminder about what happened on the rural Allegan County road where Joseph Nagle took his last breath.
Family and friends of Nagle, 22, wore #justice4joey shirts and prayed together at an emotional memorial Thursday night.
Nagle was shot and killed by a deputy from the Allegan County Sheriff's Office on June 16, exactly two weeks earlier.
The deputy suspected Nagle was driving while impaired, and pulled him over on 26th Street near 136th Avenue, according to the sheriff's office.
Nagle failed a field sobriety test and started to fight the deputy who tried to arrest him, according to Michigan State Police, which is investigating the deadly shooting.
The deputy fired a single shot, hitting Nagle in the chest and killing him, police said.
Kent County Commissioner Robert Womack prayed with Nagle's family and friends at Thursday's vigil. Womack has been visible and vocal in his support for Patrick Lyoya's family. Lyoya was shot and killed by former Grand Rapids Police officer Christopher Schurr after a traffic stop in April.
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"I want you to embrace this mother and this family because the pain is real and it's a pain that never goes away," Womack said.
Nagle grew up in Kent County. He graduated from Comstock Park High School in 2018, where he was also an all-state wrestler.
He was taking classes at Grand Rapids Community College and wanted to become a police officer, according to his ex-girlfriend, Courtney Riva.
There is no video of the shooting that killed Nagle. The deputy was not wearing a body camera, and his squad car was not equipped with a dash camera, according to state police.
- No video of Nagle shooting: Allegan County Sheriff's Office has body cameras, but deputies haven't been trained
Michigan State Police is not naming the Allegan County sheriff's deputy who shot and killed Nagle.
The deputy is on paid administrative leave while state police investigators complete their report. It will then be sent to the Allegan County Prosecutor, who will decide whether the deputy should face criminal charges.
