As reported by The Journal News on lohud.com, the family of a woman that was murdered nearly ten years ago, in what was determined to be a poorly secured shopping mall's parking lot, has been awarded almost $2 million in damages.
C.R.C. was stabbed to death in a parking garage near the Galleria mall. The man that was found guilty of her murder, P.G., is currently serving 25 years to life behind bars. The jury in the wrongful death lawsuit found that the city of White Plains was negligent in not providing a safe public parking lot.
Outside of the White Plains County Courthouse C.R.C.'s son, J.R., 37, told reporters, "We've been fighting for justice for (C.R.C.) for going on nine years now, and we've been strong and standing strong as a family. What we found out here is that these parking garages, especially the Lexington-Grove parking garage where my mom was killed, were absolutely dangerous and hopefully this is some kind of catalyst for change."
Judge Sam Walker heard the trial in state Supreme Court. The jury reached its verdict on February 10.
The lawsuit stated that because the city failed to secure the parking garage adequately C.R.C. was brutally stabbed to death.
Attorneys for White Plains argued that the city couldn't have prevented P.G. from attacking C.R.C. The city further argued that P.G. admitted to police that he wanted to start a race war, and that his only regret was that he couldn't have killed more white people like C.R.C. before he was arrested.
P.G., a convicted rapist, had taken a van from a shelter to the mall's parking lot on June 29, 2005 – with the sole intention of killing a white person.
Westchester County was also listed as a defendant in the lawsuit because they were contracted to allow the residents to use their vans for transportation into White Plains. The claims against the county were eventually dismissed as the court found that the county had no duty to control P.G.'s actions.
John Callahan, the city's corporation counsel, said, "The death of (C.R.C.) in 2005 was a tragic event brought about by a deranged individual. White Plains is a safe city but, as we know, even in the safest of places horrible random acts of violence can occur."
According to Callahan the city has an appeal pending in regards to the court failing to dismiss the case before it went to trial and put into the hands of a jury. The city's trial counsel advised them that there were several grounds for an appeal – including many that occurred within the trial itself.
The jury's final award to the family was $1.98 million. The family, however, has stated that the case was never about money. The funds will be place in the Mount Kisco bereavement program. J.R. volunteers at Mount Kisco and said that his mother supported the organization.
One reporter asked J.R. what the family would be doing next. J.R. answered, "I haven't really thought about that. I do know we'll continue to live our lives the way she wanted us to, the way she raised us."
Sometimes it's not about money for a family that has lost a loved one in a wrongful death. In this case the son of the deceased gave the award to a charity his mother respected. Contact a personal injury lawyer to discuss your own unique case.