Woman shot in Wal-Mart lot awarded $4.2million by jury
A Georgia jury just awarded $4.2 million to a woman shot during a 2001 carjacking in a Wal-Mart parking lot. The verdict was returned recently against the retail giant and the man convicted of shooting the woman is already serving a 15-year sentence in state prison for the crime. He did not answer the suit.
The woman who was shot had stopped by a Wal-Mart after work at 1:30 a.m. to pick up party supplies. Her 9-year-old son was asleep inside her car which she parked under a light pole close to the front entrance.
When she left the store, the shooter demanded her keys but after she was able to get her son out of the SUV she dropped the keys and ran and was shot in the back with a 38 handgun.
In her suit, the woman complained about a lack of security at the shopping center and was able to provide a list of 398 visits by police to that store for various crimes in the 20 months leading up to her shooting.
"That should have been sufficient to put Wal-Mart on notice that crimes were being committed there," said her lawyer. "Also Wal-Mart had a policy to have security patrols but chose to not put them into place at that store." Wal-Mart officials also destroyed a surveillance videotape of the attack after the shooter was convicted.
A prospective client, after hearing about this story, called our office today to say that, while he had not been shot, his car had been highjacked in the Wal-Mart parking lot and he settled with Wal-Mart for a $1,500 lap top computer.
Moral: It is never a good idea to settle without first talking with an Attorney.
About The Author:
Attorney Edward A. ("Ted") Bills can be reached at 719.444.1000 or at http://www.SpringsAttorney.com.
Attorney Ted Bills has one mission – to fight for the rights of personal injury victims and those who have been devastated by the misconduct of others – he represents clients with an aggressive approach designed to provide SWIFT justice.
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