Premises Liability - Inadequate Security

John Doe v. Shopping Plaza

Shopping Plaza Owner’s Negligence Leads to 19 Year-Olds Death

On the afternoon of April 28, 2005, nineteen-year-old John Doe went to his barber located in a shopping plaza in West Palm Beach, Florida, to get his hair cut. While waiting for an opening, John Doe was sitting in his friend’s car eating a sandwich, when a gunman came up to the passenger side of the car and fired multiple shots, killing John Doe.

This was not the first violent crime on the property. The community is known to have a crime rate 10 times higher than the average U.S. city. The shopping plaza owner knew or should have known of the history of criminal activity in and around the property including prior assaults, armed robberies, shootings, stabbings, burglaries, car theft, and, illegal drug activity. With this prior knowledge, the property owner has a duty to take reasonable security precautions to protect patrons of the plaza, like John Doe, from foreseeable harm, but unfortunately, the owner failed to take steps to adequately secure the property and John Doe was tragically killed.

Attorney Scott C. Murray successfully settled the case for John Doe's family for a confidential amount.