The Haggard Law Firm’s Pedro Echarte along with co-counsel Joey Rafaeli, Esq of Rafaeli Law and Erik Feingold, Esq of Myers Widders Gibson Jones & Feingold, have obtained a $2 Million policy limit settlement in an Orlando-area negligent security wrongful death case. The case involved the shooting death of a vacation home rental guest.
On July 21, 2021, Jeremiah Brown was carjacked, shot, and killed while in ChampionsGate in Davenport, Florida. The community is a vacation rental community located in Osceola County, close to Disney World and other amusement parks and resorts.
Laurie Brown with her son Jeremiah
Jeremiah was on vacation and staying in the community with his girlfriend and her children. They had rented an Airbnb. Jeremiah did not know the community had been targeted by criminals committing vehicle burglaries and car thefts in the months leading up to his death.
On the night in question, Jeremiah left his Airbnb (located at 9045 Stinger Dr.) in his rental car and was approached at a nearby intersection in the community by the assailants, Tyrell Johnson and Jimmy Robinson. They carjacked him and shot and killed him in the process.
Subsequent investigation revealed that the assailants had affiliations with a gang in Apopka suspected to have committed various crimes (burglaries, car thefts, etc.) within Champtions Gate in the months leading up to the homicide. Jeremiah, who was from Georgia, was unaware of the prior crime in the community and was never warned or notified of the issues prior to renting the Airbnb by the host, community, management, or security.
RAMCO Protective of Orlando, Inc., was hired by Champions Gate to control access to the community and provide security guards to be posted at the guardhouses at the various entrances to the sprawling community. A review of surveillance footage revealed that on the night in question the assailants accessed the community by driving past the guardhouse through the exit lanes to the community, which did not have physical access control barriers to prevent such activity (i.e., no swing arms, etc.). Despite there being two security guards in the guardhouse, the assailants went undetected as they drove into the community through the exit lanes around the guardhouse and by passing the physical access control barriers in the entrance lanes. Shortly after gaining access to the community, they came upon Jeremiah, who was in his rental vehicle at an intersection. They approached him, tried to carjack him, and eventually shot and killed him. Jeremiah left behind his two surviving parents who are the statutory survivors under Florida law.
Plaintiff’s claims against RAMCO Protective of Orlando, Inc., centered on the security guards’ active negligence in failing to detect and stop the assailants from entering the community – i.e., their primary responsibility. Plaintiff claimed that they breached their duties, which included controlling access to the community, which resulted in Jeremiah’s death. Moreover, Plaintiff claimed that RAMCO Protective of Orlando, Inc., should have been hyper-vigilant in performing its duties because of both the prior crime occurring in the community and the fact that the majority of people inside Champions Gate were vacationers and tourists, who are known targets for criminals in the area.
Shortly after filing the lawsuit, Plaintiff sent a policy limit demand to RAMCO Protective of Orlando, Inc. The demand was accepted and the policy limits timely tendered. The case remains open against several remaining Defendants, including the community, subdivision, host, and property management companies involved in the operation of both the Airbnb unit and the community.
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