Family Of BART Stabbing Victim To File Lawsuit

OAKLAND, CA — A San Francisco law firm says it is preparing to file a lawsuit on behalf of the family of 18-year-old Nia Wilson alleging that BART failed to keep her safe when a transient man slashed her throat and killed her at the MacArthur BART station in Oakland last month.

Attorney Robert Arns said in a news release that suspect John Lee Cowell, 27, apparently was a fare evader and "should have been stopped at the turnstile" both on the night of July 22, when he allegedly stabbed Wilson, and on July 23, when he again rode BART but was arrested at the Pleasant Hill station after a passenger tipped off police.

Arns said the lawsuit he plans to file will allege that Cowell "should never have been allowed to enter the BART system."

Arns said, "Public records show more than 22,000 illegally enter BART daily, costing over $25 million in lost revenue a year, and many of them are a transient criminal element."

He said, "BART has failed to stop these 'fare jumpers' at the turnstile, leading to a 66 percent increase in violent crime on BART."

Wilson's death was one of three homicides on the BART system in a five-day period in late July.

"During a time when the incidence of violent crime in Oakland and the rest of Alameda County is decreasing, violent crime on BART is increasing," Arns said. "BART management has failed to come clean with the public about the dangers riders face every day."

The attorney said the suit "will allege that violent crime is foreseeable on BART because the system is rife with criminal activity."

Arns said, "Because of the lack of security at the turnstiles, the suit will claim criminals freely enter the system and preventable crimes occur in stations on a daily basis."

BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost didn't directly address the planned suit, but said in a statement, "Nothing is more important than the safety of our riders and employees."

Trost said, "In the last several years BART has launched a multi-prong approach to reduce fare evasion, including a new proof of payment ordinance and inspection teams as well as infrastructure changes to make it
harder to bypass fare gates."

Trost said BART has also installed working cameras on all train cars and has "a robust network of more than 4,000 surveillance cameras."

She said BART has increased patrols using overtime since the spring of 2017 and has "worked tirelessly" to fill officer vacancies.

"Arrests surged last year by nearly 40 percent due to the fact our officers were in the right place at the right time," she said.

"The murder of Nia Wilson on BART is a tragedy and we continue to extend our deepest condolences to the Wilson family. We are thankful the suspect is in custody due in large part to our surveillance system," Trost
said.

Arns said Nia Wilson's family will hold a memorial service at 11 a.m. Friday at the Acts Full Gospel Church at 1034 66th Ave. in East Oakland.

"Nia's dream was to join the military and be an emergency medical technician," he said.

— Bay City News; Image via Shutterstock