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by JENN WOOD
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Nearly three years after Kevin Lester Newhouse was shot and killed outside his Lexington County home, his mother has filed a civil lawsuit in South Carolina’s eleventh judicial circuit against the father and son accused of murdering him.
Joanie Newhouse, who allegedly witnessed her son’s December 2023 killing from only feet away, filed the lawsuit Monday (August 25, 2026) in Lexington County circuit court.
The complaint (.pdf) – submitted by Columbia, S.C. attorney Lori Murray – accused Ryan Jordan Lindler Sr. and Ryan Jordan Lindler Jr. of intentionally inflicting severe emotional distress upon Newhouse by killing her son in her presence.
The lawsuit seeks actual and punitive damages in an amount to be determined by a jury, along with legal fees and other relief.
The allegations contained in the lawsuit have yet to be proven in court – and no responses from the Lindlers were listed in the public index as of Wednesday afternoon (August 26, 2026). However, both men were indicted on murder and weapons charges in connection with the December 6, 2023 shooting.
Lindler Sr. and Lindler Jr. were each released on a $150,000 bond while those charges are pending.
The civil filing submitted by Murray offered the most detailed public account yet of what Joanie Newhouse claims she witnessed during the deadly confrontation.
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According to the complaint, Kevin Newhouse – who was 36 at the time of his death – was walking along his street carrying a machete he used to cut brush when he entered property belonging to the Lindlers.
The lawsuit alleged Lindler Sr. spotted Newhouse through a surveillance camera and “raced to the scene” to confront him. An altercation ensued, during which Lindler Sr. allegedly took the machete away from Newhouse.
Instead of ending the confrontation there, the complaint claimed Lindler Sr. forced the now-unarmed Newhouse to walk approximately 1.5 miles back to his own residence – striking the front or back of his legs with what the lawsuit described as a “stick or cattle prod” to direct his movements.
When they reached the Newhouse home, Lindler Sr. allegedly knocked on the door and asked to speak with Kevin’s father, per the pleading. Joanie Newhouse answered the and told him her husband was not home.
After Lindler Sr. accused Kevin of trespassing, Joanie allegedly told Lindler Sr. to leave – pointing out that he was now the person trespassing on someone else’s property.
The confrontation then moved into the Lindlers’ yard.
“Kevin Newhouse attempted to escape the conflict and enter his home multiple times but was prohibited from doing so by Lindler Sr. and his cattle prod,” the complaint alleged.
Kevin Newhouse eventually attempted to walk around the house and enter through a back door, according to the filing. His mother followed, repeatedly asking Lindler Sr. to leave her son alone and get off the property. Instead, the lawsuit alleged Lindler Sr. placed her son in a chokehold from behind.
Shortly thereafter, Lindler Sr. allegedly called his son and told him to come to the scene. Lindler Jr. then entered the backyard carrying a loaded handgun, according to the complaint.
“Upon seeing his son, Lindler Sr. threw Kevin on the ground and yelled ‘shoot him’ to his son Lindler Jr.,” the lawsuit alleged.
Lindler Jr. then allegedly shot Newhouse four times in the back as his mother watched.
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CONFLICTING ACCOUNTS
The central allegations closely track the account investigators provided following the Lindlers’ arrests – although the defendants and their attorneys have maintained there is more to the story.
Lexington County sheriff Jay Koon said in December 2023 the dispute began when the Lindlers confronted Newhouse over an alleged trespassing incident at another address.
“Before the three men fought, the Lindlers prevented Newhouse from going back into his house,” Koon said.
According to the sheriff, detectives determined Lindler Sr. told his son to shoot Newhouse after taking the machete away from him.
“The shooting happened after the elder Lindler had taken a machete away from the victim, who was unarmed when he was shot,” Koon said in the department’s original announcement.
The new lawsuit goes further, accusing the Lindlers of giving responding deputies a false version of the shooting.
According to the complaint, the father and son claimed Newhouse was still armed with the machete and that his dogs had bitten them. The lawsuit alleged Newhouse was unarmed and the dogs were chained.
Attorneys for the Lindlers have previously described the encounter much differently.
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Following the arrests, attorney Eric Bland said surveillance footage showed Newhouse wearing a mask, walking with a pit bull and carrying a machete on the Lindlers’ property. The defense also claimed the confrontation was not the first time Newhouse had trespassed in the area.
According to a December 2023 report from The State, Lindler Jr. told deputies Newhouse swung the machete at both men – bruising the younger Lindler’s arm and cutting his father’s finger. The defense also claimed Lindler Sr. was bitten by a dog during the struggle.
Bland publicly described the case as involving a “very substantial self-defense claim.”
That argument is complicated by where the shooting allegedly occurred – and whether Newhouse remained a threat after he was disarmed.
“The information we presented is that when he was killed, he was not armed,” eleventh circuit solicitor Rick Hubbard told The State following the arrests.
The Lindlers’ attorneys previously said the case would test a property owner’s right to defend against trespassers and vandals, including those who enter another person’s property with a deadly weapon.
The civil complaint flips that argument on its head, alleging the Lindlers pursued Newhouse back to his residence, refused his mother’s demands to leave and prevented him from retreating into his own home.
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RELATED | Blurred Legal Lines In South Carolina
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CRIMINAL CASES STILL PENDING
Lindler Sr. and Lindler Jr. were arrested one day after the shooting and charged with murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.
Both were initially denied bond before circuit court judge Walton J. McLeod IV set secured bonds of $150,000 for each defendant later that month. The court also imposed electronic monitoring, restrictions on possessing firearms and an order barring them from approaching the Newhouse family or its property.
The public index identified Bland as Lindler Sr.’s defense attorney and Lester McGill Bell Jr. as counsel for Lindler Jr.
The unusual arrangement surrounding the Lindlers’ defense drew scrutiny shortly after their arrests. Bland and his law partner, Ronnie Richter, initially announced that their firm had been retained to represent Lindler Sr. and “assist” with Lindler Jr.’s defense. Bland later described his role in the younger defendant’s case as consulting, raising questions about potential conflicts between two defendants charged in the same killing.
Murray, meanwhile, has represented the Newhouse family on the civil side since the early stages of the case.
Her new lawsuit contains a single cause of action: intentional infliction of emotional distress. It is brought by Joanie Newhouse individually and is not styled as a wrongful death or survival action on behalf of her son’s estate.
The complaint alleges the Lindlers acted together – or aided and encouraged one another – in conduct that went “beyond all possible bounds of decency.”
As a result of witnessing her son’s killing, Joanie Newhouse claims she has suffered severe emotional distress, anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
As a private investigator turned journalist, Jenn Wood brings a unique skill set to FITSNews as its research director. Known for her meticulous sourcing and victim-centered approach, she helps shape the newsroom’s most complex investigative stories while producing the FITSFiles and Cheer Incorporated podcasts. Jenn lives in South Carolina with her family, where her work continues to spotlight truth, accountability, and justice.
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