TACOMA, Wash. — The mother of a slain teen ambushed at a Tacoma apartment complex filed a wrongful death lawsuit Wednesday against the building’s property manager or employees, citing they failed to secure the complex where the teen was shot and killed.
Jillian Marshall, a personal representative of the teen’s estate, filed the lawsuit in Pierce County Superior Court on Oct. 9 and claimed that the property manager and others who worked at the Lakeside Landing Apartment complex located on South Mildred Street in Tacoma failed to provide safety and security to the common areas of the site at the time of the teen’s murder.
On March 25, 2023, two of his friends, then-19-year-old Tyrus Walker-Scott and then-18-year-old Isiah Williams, allegedly staged a robbery inside the Kinlow Barbershop in the Tacoma Mall. The man who they allegedly robbed was then-29-year-old Isiah Martin.
According to court documents, four days later, Martin and two teenage friends ambushed 16-year-old Larry Marshall III–also known as “Trae”–at the apartment complex in retaliation for the robbery. Further details regarding the alleged robbery were unclear.
Marshall was visiting a friend who lived at the complex when Martin and two others spotted him in the parking lot, according to court documents. They fired more than 30 shots at Marshall while he was running away. He suffered multiple gunshot wounds and died.
The lawsuit claimed that former property manager, Semaj Edwards, and other employees had a responsibility to secure the parking lot by overseeing property rules and policies at the building. In addition, the property allegedly had a history of criminal activity that made it more likely that the shooting would happen.
Before the deadly shooting, Edwards and other building employees allegedly knew or should have known of the threat posed by people who lived on the property, including Martin and the two other teen suspects who allegedly fatally shot Marshall. But, the lawsuit claimed nothing was done to create a safe environment to prevent criminal activity.
The lawsuit sought unspecified damages including funeral and legal expenses.
A trial date for Martin has been set for Oct. 28.
One of his accomplices, 18-year-old Devonte Pool, pleaded guilty Friday and will be sentenced on Nov. 1.