On Monday, November 7, a second family filed a wrongful death lawsuit in the Seal Beach Shooting case. Last month a Huntington Beach resident entered a Seal Beach hair salon and opened fire. He ultimately hit nine people in his attack, eight of whom died as a result.
The suit was filed on behalf of the family of Christy Lynn Wilson, a 47 year old resident of Lakewood, CA. The primary plaintiff in the case is Wilson’s husband, Paul Wilson. Christy Wilson was one of the 8 people killed by Scott Dekraai on his October 12th rampage. Authorities have said that the shooting was apparently the end result of a bitter custody battle between Dekraai and his wife over their son, Dominic, 8 years old. His wife, Michelle Fournier, was one of those killed. The first wrongful death suit filed in this case was filed by Fournier’s parents. That suit also named Dominic as a plaintiff.
Paul and Christy Wilson’s three children are also named as plaintiffs in the Wilsons’ wrongful death case. “As a direct and proximate result of the negligence, carelessness, recklessness, wantonness and unlawfulness of (Dekraai) … (Wilson’s husband and children) have been deprived of the care, society and comfort of (the victim),” stated the Wilsons’ filing.
The case brief also went on to say, “During the massacre, (Dekraai) shot and killed eight people. One of those people was Christy Lynn Wilson … Ms. Wilson and plaintiff, Paul Wilson had been married for over twenty years and had three children together, Kielynn, Konner and Kaesen, ages 22, 20 and 17.”
Both lawsuits are apparently seeking unspecified levels of damages, as well as the wrongful death judgment itself. The damages named, while not specified in amount, include funeral and burial costs, and will possibly include counseling costs for the surviving children.
Mass murder cases, where multiple victims are killed in a sudden attack, are often very traumatic to a great many individuals, and it can be expected that more such suits will be filed soon.
