The parents of a Georgia high school football star gunned down in the parking lot of a Dave & Buster’s outside Atlanta while on a date with his longtime girlfriend months ago have filed a civil lawsuit over the neighborhood’s pervasive criminal activity that comes as the second suspected killer pleaded not guilty.
Elijah DeWitt, an 18-year-old football player at Jefferson High School who had already garnered recognition from NFL quarterback Cam Newton, was shot and killed Oct. 5, 2022, in the parking lot of a Dave & Buster’s at Sugarloaf Mall, located in Lawrenceville, a suburb about 30 miles outside Atlanta.
Two days later, Kemare Bryan, 18, and Chandler Richardson, 19, both from Lawrenceville, were arrested at a South Carolina gas station and hauled back to Georgia to each face four counts of felony murder, malice murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of certain felonies.
Last week, Richardson pleaded not guilty to all counts, FOX 5 Atlanta reported. Bryan had already pleaded not guilty last month.
GEORGIA HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL STAR’S GIRLFRIEND SPEAKS OUT ABOUT HARROWING SHOOTING ON COUPLE’S DATE NIGHT
Craig and Dawn DeWitt, the surviving parents and co-administrators of their son’s estate, filed a complaint Friday for damages against Simon Property Group LP, which owns and operates Sugarloaf Mall. The wrongful death lawsuit also names Dave & Buster’s, Jason Choy, the security director for Sugarloaf Mills, and Universal Protective Service, LLC as defendants.
The lawsuit, filed in the State Court of Gwinnett County, alleges that there had been a substantial history of previous crime on the premises and that the defendants, “knew of the dangerous and hazardous conditions,” and that said conditions, “were likely to result in injuries and/or death to their invitees, including Elijah.”
The lawsuit further alleges that the defendants’ failure to warn of the crime and dangerous activity they knew about but did…
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