Parents of 2016 shooting victim awarded $4 million in wrongful death lawsuit
The parents of a Kansas City man who was killed in a 2016 shooting were awarded $4 million in damages in a wrongful death lawsuit against a former fire captain accused of trafficking firearms, as well as the gun’s dealer and manufacturer.
Among the trafficked firearms, according to court documents, was the one used to kill Alvino Dwight Crawford Jr. on July 5, 2016.
James Samuels, a former Kansas City Fire Department Captain named in the civil lawsuit, pleaded guilty in August to illegally selling dozens of firearms. Also named in the case were Jimenez Arms and Green Tip Arms LLC along with its owner, Christopher Bendet.
The wrongful death lawsuit, filed in Jackson County Circuit Court in June 2019, alleged negligence on behalf of the gun dealer. The suit also cites Kansas City’s high homicide rate and other criminal cases where Jimenez Arms weapons were allegedly used.
Nine months ago, the gun dealer that sold the firearm — a separate defendant in the case — came to a settlement agreement with the parents requiring the dealer to shut down.
Jimenez Arms filed for bankruptcy. Green Tip Arms also agreed to surrender its federal firearms license and to dissolve the company.
Attorneys from Everytown for Gun Safety, a national gun violence prevention organization, as well as local attorneys, represented the parents, Alvino and Beverly Crawford.
“This is a victory for our son, Dwight,” Alvino and Beverly Crawford said in a statement. “No other family should lose a child the way we did, and our hope with this lawsuit was to spare other families what we’ve gone through by deterring even one person from contributing to gun trafficking. We hope this ruling will do just that.”
Prosecutors said Samuels, who was not a licensed dealer, admitted to buying 77 firearms from November 2013 to August 2018. Of those, 47 were transferred to third parties. Ten to 20 firearms were sold to people forbidden to have them.
Jerome Walker, now 45, and Devon Davis, now 20, were each charged in the killing. Walker pleaded guilty to second degree murder and armed criminal action and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Davis pleaded guilty to second degree murder and was also sentenced to 10 years.
Alla Lefkowitz, director of affirmative litigation for Everytown Law, said in a statement that the gun’s manufacturer, dealer and trafficker have faced consequences because of the Crawford’s actions.
“Holding bad actors accountable for their dangerous behavior is a crucial part of preventing future shootings,” said Lefkowitz.
Officials don’t know where dozens of the trafficked guns are, according to the news release, though many were recovered in investigations in Kansas City and Chicago.
This story was originally published November 17, 2020 at 5:28 PM.
