Family sues boys ranch after Michigan couple killed at cabin

GALENA, Mo. (AP) - The family of a Michigan couple killed in southwestern Missouri by two teenagers who escaped from a juvenile rehabilitation camp has filed a lawsuit contending the camp and its employees didn't adequately supervise the boys before they escaped.

Paul and Margaret Brooks, of Baldwin, Michigan, were robbed and killed in January 2013 at a cabin in Lampe two days after Anthony Zarro and Christopher Allen ran away from the Lives Under Construction camp nine miles away. Zarro and Allen pleaded guilty to murder in the couple's deaths are serving life prison sentences.

The Brooks' family contends that Lives Under Construction inadequately supervised the juveniles under its care and failed to alert the authorities or those living in the area about the escape. The lawsuit also alleges that Zarro and Allen were taken off of necessary psychiatric medication without consulting a doctor, The Springfield News-Leader reported.

Zarro and Allen were 16 and 15, respectively, at the time of the couple's deaths.

John Schultz, an attorney for Lives Under Construction, said in a statement that those associated with the ranch have the "deepest sympathy" for the Brooks family. He said in the ranch's more than three decades of operation, it hasn't had a similar incident and that its policies were reviewed and approved by the Missouri Department of Social Services.

"The lawsuits seek to hold Lives Under Construction, its employees and Board of Directors responsible for crimes committed by the boys two days after they left the Ranch," Schultz said. "Lives Under Construction, its employees and Board of Directors played no role in these crimes."

Published: Wed, Aug 10, 2016