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VA Lawmaker Sues Over Son's Suicide

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - A Virginia state senator whose son stabbed him multiple times before killing himself has filed a $6 million lawsuit against the state and a mental health facility.

Sen. R. Creigh (KREE') Deeds of Bath County claims in the lawsuit that 24-year-old Austin "Gus" Deeds was improperly denied treatment.

The complaint was filed in Bath County Circuit Court. Defendants are the state, the Rockbridge Area Community Services Board and Michael Gentry, a mental health worker who evaluated Gus Deeds the day before the attack. Gus Deeds stabbed his father 13 times before shooting himself with a rifle in November 2013.

John D. Young is interim executive director of the community services board. Neither he nor the state attorney general's office would comment on the lawsuit.

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Don Rush is the News Director and Senior Producer of News and Public Affairs at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.