The parents of a Kansas City man who died in a 2016 shooting have been awarded $4 million in a wrongful death lawsuit against former fire captain James Samuels who reportedly trafficked 77 guns.
Alvino Dwight Crawford, Jr was killed on July 4, 2016.
According to media reports, Crawford was shot eight times at 3 a.m. while walking with friends near 83rd and Campbell.
“This is a victory for our son, Dwight,” Alvino and Beverly Crawford said. “No other family should lose a child the way we did.”
The Crawfords filed a wrongful death lawsuit in June 2019 against the alleged trafficking ring, which included Samuels as well as the manufacturer of the murder weapon, Jimenez Arms, and the dealer who sold it to Samuels, Green Tip Arms.
The grieving parents were represented by the litigation arm of Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund.
“Holding bad actors accountable for their dangerous behavior is a crucial part of preventing future shootings,” Alla Lefkowitz, director of affirmative litigation for Everytown Law, said. “Because the Crawfords took action, the manufacturer, dealer, and trafficker of the firearm that killed Dwight Crawford have all faced consequences for their actions.”
A separate settlement involved Jimenez Arms, which agreed to stop selling firearms and declared bankruptcy in which the court approved Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund’s bid to purchase Jimenez Arms’ remaining gun inventory to prevent it from being transferred to JA Industries, its successor firearms business.
But there are dozens of guns allegedly sold by the group that remain unrecovered.
“Our hope with this lawsuit is to spare other families what we’ve gone through by deterring even one person from contributing to gun trafficking,” the grieving couple said. “We hope this ruling will do just that.”
No permit is required to purchase a firearm in the state of Missouri, according to CBS News.
NPR reported that it was a 14-year-old homeless boy who shot Crawford.