(Newswire.net — July 1, 2018) –Kari Dunn’s family has won $42 million in a wrongful death lawsuit. Dunn was stabbed to death in her hotel room in Marshall in 2013. The family sought around $60 million in damages against the convicted killer and the owners of the hotel where the slaying occurred.
Dunn was stabbed to death by her estranged husband in front of her nine-year old daughter.
The daughter attempted to call for help for her mother, dialing 911 four times and not realizing that she had to dial a “9” to call an outside line. The incident led to a February 16, 2018 signing by President Donald Trump of what is known as Kari’s Law Act of 2017.
The signing comes on the 50th anniversary of the first 911 call in the United States.
The law requires that all phones connect to 911 even in the event that they need an additional prefix or access number to reach an outside line. Kari’s law had been accepted into law in Texas on September 1, 2016, but the federal law didn’t come into effect until the February signing.
Brad Dunn, the killer, is serving a 99-year prison sentence for the murder.
“In premise liability cases, the plaintiff must prove that negligence on the part of the property owner caused his/her injuries. Whether a property is private, public or commercial, the property owner (or renter) has a responsibility to make sure it is reasonably safe,” writes Bogdan Martinovich.
Lawyers for the plaintiff claim that they’re happy with the verdict and never believed it was the hotel’s responsibility to stop the attack. Plaintiffs allege that the actions after the attack were negligent.
The counsel claims that hotels have emergency situations “all the time,” and that plans need to be in place for employees to respond to emergencies. Dunn’s daughter not only tried to make calls to 911, but she also tried to gesture hotel employees for help.
The employees, all non-English speakers, chose to not respond or try and alert the general manager that a situation occurred. Attorneys argue that the chances of Dunn’s survival would have been “great,” but state that the hotel failed to meets its obligations to render aid to the customer.
Jurors assigned an 80% fault to Brad Dunn and a 20% fault to OM Lodging, the former owner of the hotel.
Kari’s Law ensures that all establishments have a legal responsibility to offer direct access to 9-1-1 despite any access code requirements.