BEAUMONT — A Jefferson County widower is suing Beaumont apartment complex operators, alleging breach of duty and wrongful death.
Andrew Teel, individually and as next friend of Alaya Teel and as representative of the estate of Kera Teel and Kyndal Jae Teel, filed a complaint July 6 in Jefferson County District Court against ST Partners III Ltd. doing business as MGroup Holdings Inc. and Capstone Real Estate Services Inc., alleging they breached their duties to maintain adequate security measures.
According to the complaint, on June 26, Kera Teel died from a gunshot wound sustained when she was robbed and shot in the parking lot of the defendants' Sienna Apartment Homes in Beaumont. Teel was pregnant at the time, the suit says, and Kyndal Jae Teel died shortly after birth.
The plaintiff alleges the defendants failed to repair a collapsed security fence and the dysfunctional security gate and failed to replace defective security lights. The suit says despite repeated criminal activity, there was not a single security camera. These failures permitted an armed assailant to enter the Sienna Apartment grounds.
Andrew Teel seeks monetary relief of more than $1 million and all further relief the court deems appropriate. He is represented by attorneys Jefferson W. Fisher and David J. Fisher of Orgain Bell & Tucker LLP in Beaumont.
Jefferson County District Court case number B-200332