Verdicts & Settlements: Gas station shooting resolves in settlement

By Scott Lauck Dolan Media Newswires ST. LOUIS, MO--Three companies reached a settlement of more than $3 million with a Kansas City family over the shooting death of their 21-year-old mentally ill son at a convenience store. Frederick Charles Jones Jr., who went by "Little Charlie" and was schizophrenic, was shot and killed on Sept. 3, 2010, by a cashier at a Shell station in southern Kansas City. Jones and the cashier, Akbar Rana, got into an altercation after Jones was allegedly barred from entering. On the sidewalk outside the store, Rana allegedly used a stun gun on Jones, then shot him in the back with a concealed pistol after Jones tried to run away. Rana then allegedly struck Jones in the head with the weapon and kicked him. A plaintiffs' attorney in the case, Michael Yonke, said Jones frequently panhandled at the store and was well-known to the employees.Yonke said the shooting was caught on the store's video. "Witnesses in the store said that Little Charlie was not threatening at all," Yonke said. "It was clear he was confused and didn't understand. His voice was raised, but he didn't understand why he couldn't come back in the store." In court papers, the defendants alleged that Jones verbally and physically attacked the staff. Yonke said it was unclear on the tape if Jones tried to hit Rana after he was struck with the stun gun. Jackson County prosecutors charged Rana with voluntary manslaughter and armed criminal action following the incident, but he fled the country before he could be prosecuted or served with the lawsuit. Yonke said Rana is believed to be in India or Pakistan. Jones' mother, Vanessa D. Boykin, filed a wrongful death suit in Jackson County Circuit Court in November 2010. Jones' father, Frederick Charles Jones, initially filed his own lawsuit but quickly became an intervenor in Boykin's action. The suit named Lakhani Commercial Corp., which hired Rana, as well as Shell Oil Co. and three other companies-- Sunshine Energy, Sunshine Fuel and Sunshine Energy MO II-- that operated the store, supplied its fuel and owned the property. The suit also named Ashtiaq Kahn, another clerk present for the shooting, though Kahn's attorney said in court papers that Kahn had tried to defuse the situation and stop Rana from shooting Jones. Stephen Dickerson, another attorney for the plaintiffs, said the case presented a fact scenario very different from the typical premises security case. "Usually it's a third-party assailant at a premises, and security is lacking and the third-party assailant injures or harms a customer," he said. "That's not what happened here at all." The defendants denied responsibility for Jones' death, but the parties reached a $3,050,000 settlement shortly before the case was scheduled to go to trial on June 4. Jackson County Circuit Judge Peggy Stevens McGraw approved the agreement on June 11. Lakhani Commercial Corp. paid $2.8 million, the Sunshine corporations paid $200,000 and Shell paid $50,000. (McGraw had granted Shell summary judgment on May 29 because it was not involved in the hiring or supervision of the station's employees. The settlement, however, prevents any appeal of that order.) Attorneys for the defendants didn't return calls seeking comment by press time. The money was split evenly between the plaintiffs, who informed the court on June 28 that the judgment had been satisfied. Entire contents copyrighted © 2012 by The Dolan Company. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is expressly forbidden. Published: Thu, Aug 2, 2012

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