Attorney with The Hale Law Firm Remarks on Wrongful Death Case

Waxahachie, TX (Law Firm Newswire) February 5, 2014 – The mother of a young man who was pushed into a moving DART train by four boys in Dallas two years ago has filed a wrongful death lawsuit.

Takeysha Keys has filed against Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) and the four boys in state district court. The plaintiff has requested a $20 million verdict. The complaint alleges that DART failed to take action to stop the attack that resulted in the November 22, 2011 death of Octavius Lanier.

“A wrongful death lawsuit may be able to bring some measure of justice in this tragic situation,” said John D. Hale, a Dallas wrongful death attorney not involved in the case.

Lanier was on his way home from a doctor’s appointment when he was attacked at the MLK, Jr. Station in South Dallas by a group of boys aged 12 to 15. According to authorities, the boys attempted to steal Lanier’s iPhone. They punched and kicked the 19-year-old Lanier before pushing him into the side of a moving train.

Lanier was pinned between the platform and the train, and his femoral artery was cut when the latter dragged him for 30 feet. Lanier was then transported to Baylor Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy confirmed that he died of blunt force trauma and that the death was a homicide.

The boys named as defendants in the wrongful death lawsuit all previously pled guilty to various criminal charges. Two of the boys received sentences of 30 years in prison for murder. Two others pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery; one received a 22-year sentence, and one, who was 12 years old at the time, received a seven-year sentence in a juvenile detention facility.

The wrongful death lawsuit also blames DART for Lanier’s death. The complaint alleges that the DART train conductor left the station rather than calling for help or trying to stop the attack.

The lawsuit also claims that DART failed to deal with an increase in violent crimes at train stations properly. Only after two subsequent murders did DART police increase security by adding police officers to all trains.

Learn more at http://www.hale911.com/ The Hale Law Firm 100 Executive Court, Suite 3 Waxahachie, TX 75165 Call: 888.425.3911