Relatives Sue Academy Sports Store That Sold Ammunition Used In 3 Missouri Killings
BY Herschel Smith
3 years, 11 months ago
Relatives of one of three people shot to death in Springfield in 2018 are suing Academy Sports and Outdoors for selling bullets to a woman who gave them to the man charged in the killings.
The lawsuit alleges a worker at Academy Sports in Springfield should have realized the woman who bought the bullets, Nyadia Burden, intended to give them to Luiz Perez. The 24-year-old Perez couldn’t buy ammunition because he was in the country illegally, had no driver’s license and was facing felony charges, according to police. The lawsuit also names Burden.
Perez is facing the death penalty in the Oct. 31, 2018, deaths of his ex-roommates, 38-year-old Steven Marler and 23-year-old Aaron “Josh” Hampton, and the wounding of two others. Prosecutors allege he fatally shot Sabrina Starr, 21, the next day. She had provided him with the gun he used, police said.
The lawsuit alleges that Perez, Burden and Aaron Anderson went to Academy Sports after a Walmart worker refused to sell them bullets.
The lawsuit contends Academy employees did not try to determine whether Perez was legally able to buy ammunition, even though it was clear that Perez and Burden were together, The Springfield News-Leader reported. He handed her the box of bullets and gave her $20 to pay.
A spokeswoman for Texas-based Academy Sports did not immediately return messages seeking comment.
Federal immigration authorities said in 2018 that Perez should have faced deportation proceedings after a previous arrest in Middlesex County, New Jersey, but he was released because the Immigration and Customs Enforcement request didn’t meet the county’s required criteria.
Perez was charged with three counts of first-degree murder. Anderson was charged with being an accessory to first-degree murder and Burden pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder.
The lawsuit was filed May 1 on behalf of Hampton’s parents and son. The relatives are asking for compensation for pain and suffering and for costs such as funeral expenses.
Hampton’s family’s attorney, Craig Heidemann, said the family respects people’s right to bear arms but wants to encourage firearm dealers to obey regulations designed to keep guns and ammunition out of the wrong hands.
This is an interesting case but not really dissimilar from the one faced by Remington (in Connecticut) or by Daniel Defense (in Nevada).
Follow me. To begin with, this would never have happened if illegals were not allowed in the country. The very same courts that prevent the deportation of illegals and find virtually every immigration law unconstitutional complain about guns when one of them uses a weapon to commit a crime. The fault is never the person or system of laws.
Second, the point should be made that even if our borders were secured, this could still happen. The fact that it happened due to an illegal isn’t relevant to the case. A gun shop can no more ensure that guns or ammunition aren’t used for nefarious purposes than a car dealership can ensure that the buyer won’t use a new vehicle to intentionally run over people.
And yet here we are, with the system of protection set up by Congress summarily ignored by the courts, people blaming crime on guns, and gun or ammunition manufacturers or sellers being held responsible for everything a buyer does.
It’s quite an effective means of gun control, yes? So even if Academy Sports wins, they lose because of the legal fees.
On May 19, 2020 at 1:21 am, Dan said:
You can bet the farm the “plaintiffs” were approached by someone from the gun grabbing left and exhorted to file this lawsuit…..perhaps even offered incentives to do so. There is NO tactic the left won’t resort to in
the quest to disarm us so they can rule us.
On May 19, 2020 at 9:13 am, Jim Wiseman said:
If an illegal is too dangerous to oen a gun or ammunition, They’re too dangerous to be in this country.
On May 19, 2020 at 9:31 am, John said:
$12 an hour clerks are now required to apply “Minority Report”?
On May 19, 2020 at 11:54 am, Bram said:
Sounds like Middlesex County should be sued.
On May 19, 2020 at 11:58 am, Wes said:
@Bram Yup, sanctuary county. Been called out for some time.
They are collectively and individually complicit.
On May 19, 2020 at 1:11 pm, Ozark Redneck said:
Bram is exactly right! Of course we all want the criminal to do the time for his crime, but it is crazy that they are suing the store. According to the Springfield Newsleader:
“These homicides attracted national attention in 2018 because Perez had been in jail in New Jersey months before the killings in Springfield, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had requested that Perez be held in jail as they started deportation proceedings against him since he is from Mexico originally and was in the country illegally. Middlesex County, New Jersey, did not honor ICE’s request, however, since it is a “sanctuary community.” According to its website, Middlesex County has a policy of declining requests by ICE to detain some inmates, if those people have not been convicted of certain serious offenses.”
Maybe it will go to a jury trial and there will be some justice served, it would nice to have the tables turned and the persons/lawyer bringing the suit would have to pay court costs for the defendant.
On May 19, 2020 at 1:13 pm, Mike_C said:
“You can bet the farm the ‘plaintiffs’ were approached by someone from the gun grabbing left”
I’m not taking that bet. What’s more, that someone is almost certainly the type that would have come after Academy Sports for racial and anti-immigrant discrimination, had they NOT sold to Burden and Perez.
On May 19, 2020 at 4:46 pm, Chris Mallory said:
Missouri does not have any laws that would have prevented the sale or a requirement for ID. Springfield is roughly 300 miles 4 hours from Illinois. I live on the border of Illinois and Kentucky. Locally, the big box stores will ask state residency or ask to see ID, but they only look at it long enough to see what state it is from. Illinois residents are required to have an Illinois FOID to buy ammo. I would suspect a store in Springfield doesn’t do enough out of state business to bother with asking for ID.
On May 19, 2020 at 6:16 pm, X said:
The next Democratic administration will make it illegal to buy ammo without a NICS check. Bank on it.
Hoard .22 LR today. And buy yourself a reloading press and a few sets of dies…
On May 19, 2020 at 9:59 pm, Ozark Redneck said:
RE: Chris: asking for ID to purchase ammo. Mo does not do that, becuz MO & AR are ‘mostly’ FREE states still. IL has had the FOID card for 40+ years, they SUCK!
On May 21, 2020 at 5:09 pm, Sanders said:
I had to drive from Albuquerque, NM to El Paso, TX to purchase a Ruger PC carbine at Academy Sports. It was worth the drive to do so, too, after local gun shops kept screwing up my order, and Academy had it on their shelf.
(Contiguous states – you can buy long guns legally, unless your state prohibits it.)