PGP Secures Defense Verdict in Premises Liability Fatality

Last week shareholders Alma J. Aguirre and Adam Chambers successfully tried a case to verdict in Harris County, Texas. The claim involved a 2019 fatality shooting at an apartment complex in the Houston area. Plaintiff, the Decedent’s mother, alleged the property was unreasonably dangerous because it lacked a controlled access gate, had insufficient camera surveillance, and only part-time on-site security. She also alleged the property owner had actual notice the property presented a danger based on police reports of certain other crimes in the area. Defendant countered Plaintiff’s evidence of past crimes was insufficient to make the incident foreseeable or the property dangerous. Decedent and his family lived at the complex without incident for more than six years before the shooting. Further, there was evidence that the confrontation between Decedent and the John Doe shooter was not a spontaneous, stranger on stranger crime but a targeted event. The jury found the defendant property owner not negligent.