Grieving widow scorches Santa Monica after sheriff husband blown up in grenade explosion: suit

The widow of a sheriff who was blown up and killed by a grenade along with two colleagues last year blames the city of Santa Monica for his death, according to a new lawsuit.

Shannon Rincon alleges bosses should have provided important details about the military-style weapon before it exploded on July 18, 2025, the documents claim.

Her husband, deputy William Osborn, 58, died alongside detectives Joshua Kelley-Eklund, 41, and Victor Lemus, 40, when the explosive detonated in a sheriff’s facility in East Los Angeles.

The grenade had been taken from an apartment complex on Bay Street in Santa Monica the day before at the request of the Santa Monica Police Department, the suit says.

The next morning, while inspecting the devices, the three victims — who were assigned to the LASD Special Enforcement Bureau’s Arson Explosives Detail — were killed, the papers claim. 

The force of the blast shattered windows and set off car alarms 100 feet from the site. The medical examiner determined Osborn’s cause of death was multiple blast injuries.

Rincon claims the city of Santa Monica did not provide proper information regarding the devices before the detonation.

The papers say: “Personnel described, characterized the devices as inactive, inert, and safe to transport despite lacking a sufficient factual basis.”

They continue: “Had City of Santa Monica personnel had reasonably investigated, the devices would have been treated as live and unstable; and the fatal explosion would have been avoided.”

In the complaint, filed on September 11, Rincon asks for unnamed economic damages and a jury trial.

Earlier this year, Nancy Lemus, the widow of Deputy Victor Lemus and the couple’s two young daughters,  also filed a lawsuit.

Lemus named Los Angeles County, the LA County Sheriff’s Department, Sheriff Robert Luna, Commander Thomas Giandomenico and others as defendants.

The lawsuit alleges Lemus was not properly trained to handle live explosive devices.

It goes on to say Giandomenico took photographs of Lemus’ remains with his cellphone after the explosion and later shared them with others for non-investigative purposes.

Luna knew about the photos but didn’t confiscate the cellphone, according to the papers. After the tragedy Luna spoke at Lemus’ funeral, the last victim from the explosion to be laid to rest.

First responders, city leaders, and grieving colleagues lined the route where the bodies were taken from the facility to the LA County Medical Examiner’s office after the blast.

The three officers served a combined 74 years with the department and left behind 16 children in total.

LASD and the city of Santa Monica were contacted for comment.

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