LUCAS COUNTY
Mother files suit over son’s ’12 death
Valero, gas station faulted in shooting
8/7/2013The mother of a Toledo man shot to death last year outside a Monroe Street filling station filed suit in Lucas County Common Pleas Court on Wednesday alleging Valero Energy Corp. and the station’s operator were negligent in his death.
Sandra Barringer, administrator of the estate of Torian Tall, claims Valero and Farzade of Toledo Inc. failed to provide adequate security at the filling station at 3365 Monroe, near Auburn Avenue, permitted “an atmosphere of aggressive and violent behavior,” and trained employees inadequately to control unruly patrons.
The companies should have known, the suit alleges, “that there had been multiple assaults, shootings, and incidents on their property.”
Mr. Tall, 25, was at the station April 15, 2012, when a large crowd gathered. James Sutton IV emerged from a car and fired three shots into the crowd, killing Mr. Tall, a bystander. Sutton, 21, of Toledo is serving a 30-year prison sentence for voluntary manslaughter, plus two counts of felonious assault for an unrelated drive-by shooting.
The suit, assigned to Judge Frederick McDonald, seeks more than $25,000 in damages.
It also names Sutton as a defendant.