Losing a loved one unexpectedly can be a devastating experience for Georgia families. People in this difficult position often have a number of questions, including whether the loss could have been prevented. When the death is caused by the actions or inactions of another party, the family may choose to pursue a wrongful death lawsuit against the appropriate person. In many cases, legal action is not only an effective way of punishing a negligent party, but it can also get family members the answers they need and deserve.
For example, the recent death of an Albany man has prompted his family to take legal action as questions about his death have gone unanswered. The man was shot and killed by two men who were supposed to be on house arrest, but were unmonitored at the time they killed the victim who was stopped on a road to change a tire. Even more upsetting than the tragic death is the fact that this is not the first time that electronic monitoring failed to prevent a murder; and the families of the victims want answers.
Electronic monitoring systems are intended to keep track of people who are under court orders to stay in a particular location. If they leave a predetermined location or attempt to tamper with their monitoring device, a signal is supposed to alert the monitoring company and police action may be taken to locate an offender as quickly as possible.
However, in two separate cases in the same Georgia community, that does not appear to have happened and now the families of two murder victims want to know why and how the system failed. In both cases, the murder suspects had either blocked or removed their monitoring devices, which should have alerted the monitoring companies. Whether or not that happened is unclear. And the companies have not provided any information to the families as to why the suspects were not tracked down by authorities the second the signal from their device was lost.
The families have reportedly taken legal action against two separate monitoring companies. They hope that they will be able to figure out what happened, what processes failed and what could have been done to prevent the tragic deaths of their loved ones. Their efforts could result in identifying system-wide failures that must be addressed in order to prevent future traumatic failures.
Source: WALB, “Albany murder victim family hires attorney and plans lawsuit,” Jim Wallace, Feb. 17, 2014
