Community Corner
Widow Of Guard Killed At Marina Del Rey Apartment Complex Loses Round In Court
The judged agreed with Shores Apartments' lawyers that their client was not liable for the guard's death at the hands of his subordinate.
LOS ANGELES, CA -- The widow of a security guard shot to death at a Marina del Rey apartment complex in 2013 by a subordinate lost a round in court Tuesday when a judge dismissed the part of her lawsuit against the property owners.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Benny Osorio granted a motion by Normal Pearl, an attorney for Shores Apartments, to remove his client as a defendant in Hazel Yvonne Woods' case, agreeing with Pearl that there were no triable issues.
Woods was married to Patrick Addo Odoi- Kyene. She filed her lawsuit in August 2015 against Shores Apartments as well as Ultimate Security Services and its former employee, Byron Street, who was subsequently convicted in the death of the plaintiff's husband. Woods' lawsuit will proceed against Ultimate Security and Street.
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Woods alleged Shores Apartments was negligent in hiring Ultimate Security instead of a reputable agency to provide guards for the building. But Osorio found that Shores acted properly in contracting with the firm.
"Shores reasonably relied on the express and implied representations of Ultimate, that it was a reputable security guard company with licensed and trained security guards with no convictions for violent crimes, pursuant to the standards set by the California Department of Consumer Affairs, Bureau Security and Investigative Services," Osorio wrote.
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Street worked as a security guard at the upscale apartment complex and angered his boss, the 47-year-old Odoi-Kyene, for bringing his girlfriend to work, according to authorities. Street returned the next day and shot Odoi- Kyene three times in the back at the apartment complex on Dec. 30, 2013.
According to the lawsuit, Street was a convicted felon and ex-convict who used the alias of Curtis Boyd to get his job with the firm. The suit alleges that the security company failed to conduct a proper background check of Street, including a computerized fingerprint scan, before hiring him.
Street, 50, of Inglewood, was convicted in September 2015 at the Airport Courthouse of first-degree murder in Odoi-Kyene's death. He was sentenced later that month to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
-- City News Service, photo via Shutterstock
