Joe Winston Campbell, Individually and as administrator of the estate of Joe Darin Campbell, deceased, and Lillie Campbell v. Dickinson Arms-REO, L.P., doing business as Dickinson Arms Apartments, GSSW, Limited Partnership, GSSW-REO Ownership Corp

Premises liability, negilignce and gross negligence, criminal car-jacking and murder - On June 15, 1994, the decedent, Joe Darin Campbell, and his girlfriend, Jenny Cady, were at a club. They left the club at about 12:00 midnight in separate cars. Cady asked Campbell to meet her at her apartment at the Dickinson Arms Apartments that night. Cady was delayed in going home because she had to take a friend home first. At about 2:30 a.m. she arrived at her apartment complex and learned that Campbell had been murdered. On that same evening, 16-year-old Donald Nichols and 16-year-old Jeremy Gartrell went to the Dickinson Arms Apartments to visit Gartrell's friend, Jesse, who lived in apartment no. 69 with several other individuals, including Stacy Hughes. Gartrell had a .22 caliber pistol with him. According to Nichols, Jesse and some other guys who lived at Dickinson Arms were members of either the Brown Assassins or LaRaza gangs. Approximately 15 to 20 people had gathered at Jesse's apartment for a Brown Assassins get-together. As Gartrell and Nichols were leaving Jesse's apartment, they saw Campbell in his pickup truck in a parking space. Gartrell told Nichols that he was going to "jack" the truck. Gartrell and Nichols split up, and, as Nichols walked away, he heard Gartrell and Campbell arguing and heard the gun go off. Nichols was afraid and began to run. Gartrell then drove up in Campbell's truck and told Nichols to get in. Nichols got in the truck and they drove away. Gartrell pled guilty to murder and was sentenced to 50 years confinement. Nichols pled guilty to aggravated robbery and was sentenced to 25 years confinement. Campbell's mother, Lillie Campbell, and his father, Joe Winston Campbell, individually and as administrator of his son's estate, filed suit against the owners of Dickinson Arms Apartments, and against the company that managed the apartments. ("Dickinson Arms"). Plaintiffs alleged negligence and gross negligence on the part of defendants.

The court granted a directed verdict in favor of defendants on the issue of gross negligence

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Defendants appealed. The Court of Appeals of Texas, First District, affirmed the trial court judgment. See: 4 S.W.3d 333 (Tex.App. [1st Dist.] 1999). The date shown above is the date of the appellate court decision and not the trial date. Reported by JAB.