New Lawsuit accuses City of Charlotte of negligence in fatal transit center shooting

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The family of a man shot and killed at Charlotte’s Transit Center says more should have been done to keep the area safe. A new lawsuit accuses the City of Charlotte and Professional Police [Security] Services of negligence leading to death. The family of Qualo Daniels calls him an innocent bystander who was using public transportation when he got caught in the crossfire.

“He was killed so senselessly and really without any warning. So right now, the family is still grieving, and they’re trying to put pieces back together and I think this lawsuit is one way to do that,” Justin Osborn, Managing Partner for Osborn Injury Lawyers representing the family of Daniels said.

The lawsuit claims 31 year old Qualo Daniels rode the bus to the transit center on April 12th around 10pm. His attorney says Daniels tried to eat in the food court when a fight escalated to gunfire and a stray bullet hit and killed Daniels.

“Why the city didn’t do more either by hiring more security, deploying the CMPD in a better way or having more officers on the ground?,” Osborn asked.

Daniels was among four people killed at the transit center between December and April. Iryna Zarutska was killed on the light rail five months after Daniels died. His family hopes the national attention will prompt action.

Representative Laura Budd from Mecklenburg County is urging fellow state lawmakers to focus on public safety, mental health and the judicial system.

“You can have the best ideas in the world, but if you’re unwilling to put your money where your mouth is, what are they worth?,” Representative Budd said.

She says she does not support bringing the death penalty back, but does believe lawmakers should better fund police.

“Let’s fund no less than 5,000 more local police officers across the state to deploy across our cities and our counties to help protect and serve and create a sense of public safety, restoring it where it may have been damaged or lost,” Rep. Budd said.

The City of Charlotte shut down all businesses in the Transit Center after Daniels’ murder, but Osborn says that’s not enough.

“I hope that’s a short term solution and there’s more of a long term plan in place to get this back to what it’s supposed to be, which is a place where folks can go and enjoy public transportation because we need more of that in our cities,” Osborn said.

The City of Charlotte and Professional Security Services have not responded to the lawsuit yet. State lawmakers will return to Raleigh on Monday, September 22nd.