The family of a man gunned down by a hotel security guard in DeKalb County has filed suit, alleging negligence by employees who watched as the unarmed man bled to death.
Thearon Lee Almond (Facebook photo)
Thearon Lee Almond, 32, died on June 3, 2015, at the hands of Deontray Cooper, police have said. Cooper, who was employed by A2B Budget Hotel in unincorporated Decatur, remains jailed on a murder charge. Guards at the hotel on Ember Drive weren't supposed to be armed. Police have said Cooper shot Almond during a dispute while trying to get him to leave the parking lot.
In the lawsuit, the attorney for Almond’s brother and sister claim the victim was an invited guest of a hotel resident and was confronted by Cooper and another unnamed security guard. Management at the hotel, who couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Wednesday, should’ve known Cooper had a weapon on the premises, attorney Alwyn R. Fredericks alleged.
Almond was shot in both legs, “despite being unarmed, outnumbered and having in no way attacked Defendant Cooper,” Fredricks wrote in the suit against the hotel and Cooper, which was filed last week in DeKalb County State Court.
“Defendant Cooper and other employees of (the hotel) watched as Thearon L. Almond collapsed to the ground and subsequently began to bleed to death,” the attorney went on. The employees “did not offer any assistance” and "watched as he died."
The suit says the family is entitled to an “amount to be proven at trial.”
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