Samuel Bearman explains the facts behind a landmark Pensacola civil judgement.


A Florida court recently affirmed a jury verdict holding the managers of a Pensacola apartment complex responsible for a murder that occurred on their property.

In 2009, Deovon Pugh, 19, was shot in the head while visiting a friend at Sunrise Apartments on Fairfield Drive. Pugh's parents sued the company that manages the apartments, Sutton Place Associates, arguing that lax security measures at the complex were a significant contributing factor in their son's death.

Jurors were swayed by the argument, awarding the family $1.25 million in a 2014 civil trial. Sutton Place Associates appealed the decision, but on Tuesday the Florida First District Court of Appeal upheld the jury's findings.

Two attorneys who represented the Pughs, Samuel W. Bearman of Pensacola and Christopher Marlowe of Coral Gables, said the case was a victory not just for the family, but for renters statewide.

"Far too many low-income housing properties treat the people who live at and visit these properties as nothing more than rent checks," Marlowe said. "The defendant's argument was that they owed no duty to protect the young man who was killed there ... when you have that attitude, this is exactly what happens."

Around 3:40 a.m. Sept. 27, 2009, Terrance Edwards went to Sunrise Apartments in search of individuals who had stolen his uncle's car. He found Pugh and a group of friends sitting on a stairwell, demanded to know who took the vehicle, then fired a shotgun, killing Pugh. Pugh was not involved in the theft, and Edwards was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.

During the 2014 civil trial, attorneys for the Pugh family painted Deovon's murder as the culmination of a pattern of unchecked crime and violence at Sunrise Apartments. The property had made headlines in the past for several violent incidents, including a case where a baby was shot at a party and another where a woman was struck and killed by a motorist fleeing a burglary.

Witnesses for Sutton Place Associates testified that security at Sunrise Apartments was comparable or superior to other complexes in the area, and that a deputy was present at the property seven hours a day, seven days a week. Attorneys also made a case that the business was not responsible for Pugh and Edwards since neither man was a resident or invited guest of the property.

Bearman said Wednesday that a jury obviously disagreed, and that it is telling that an appellate court backed their stance.

"The jury thought this was preventable had the apartment complex done enough," Bearman said. "My hope is that businesses will take note of this decision and take the safety and security of their customers a little more seriously. There have been other cases like this one that have produced defendant's verdicts, but hopefully this is a turning of the tide."

Read or Share this story: