Widow Of Carjacking Murder Victim Sought $12M Settlement: Report

MILLBURN, NJ — The widow of a Toms River man who was killed during a carjacking at a North Jersey mall made an offer last fall to the mall to settle the lawsuit for $12 million, according to a report.

NJ.com reported the offer by Jamie Schare Friedland was made in September, four years after the civil lawsuit was filed against Taubman Centers Inc., which owns The Mall at Short Hills in Millburn.

Friedland's husband, Dustin, 30, was fatally shot in the head during a carjacking when he and his wife returned to their SUV in a parking deck at the mall on Dec. 15, 2013. Authorities said the couple's Range Rover was the target — not Friedland — in the incident.

Jamie Friedland filed suit in his death, claiming there had been prior carjackings that should have been a warning to the mall about security issues, according to the NJ.com report. The mall's owners have argued that Dustin Friedland's murder was a case of random violence.

In August 2016, a state Superior Court judge ruled the mall's insurance company would have to pay the cost of the attorneys' fees to defend the mall in the lawsuit.

Read more here.

Four Essex County men were charged and later pleaded guilty in the crime: Basim Henry of South Orange, Hanif Thompson of Irvington, Karif Ford of Newark, and Kevin Roberts of Newark.

Earlier this month, the man who pulled the trigger - Thompson - was sentenced to three decades in prison without the possibility of release.

"What do I say about the person who tore my dreams away from me tore my future away from me tore my love away from me left me screaming alone in a parking structure bloodied?" his widow, Jamie Friedland, said prior to the sentencing.

• See related article: Short Hills Mall Carjacker Who Killed Attorney Gets 30 Years

Henry, Ford and Roberts have also pleaded guilty to their respective roles in the shooting and carjacking.

• See related article: Final 2 Short Hills Mall Murder Suspects Enter Guilty Pleas
• See related article: Short Hills Mall Murder Trial: Getaway Driver Gets Life In Prison, Reports Say

Dustin and Jamie Friedland file photo