Family of mother killed in East Tampa shooting files lawsuit against apartment complex
TAMPA,Fla. - The night Latoya Gay was caught between two groups firing guns at one another, surveillance video captured images of the persons of interest hopping the wall on the north side of the Silver Oaks property in East Tampa.
Three months later, the family still asks: Who are they?
"I literally cry every night," said Tiandra Parker, Gay's sister. "And I think it's worse because we don't know who actually did it."
Lawyers for her family said there should be more surveillance video from that night and the Silver Oaks apartment complex operators should have "protected residents and invitees from reasonably foreseeable criminal attacks."
"Make no mistake, they knew that Silver Oaks was riddled with bullets and violent crime, but they largely ignored their property," said family lawyer, Adam Finkel. "They allowed criminals to feel safer than citizens at Silver Oaks."
Their lawsuit insists complex operators SP Johnson and Arco Management didn't provide proper or working security gates, security guards, and security cameras and that they didn't react to incidents that had already happened in that complex and the surrounding area.
"They are responsible for the generational devastation that tortures this family," said Finkel.
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Tampa police said on January 18, the 26-year-old mother of two was visiting a friend at the complex when multiple people started shooting at one another in a parking lot.
A juvenile is in custody for weapons possession, but no one for her death.
"This is a hole in our family," said grandmother Vernessa Howard. "It's a hole in our hearts. I don't know if we'll ever be over this. I don't know if this ever be the same."
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The family is now hoping on two fronts: to see a suspect caught and to see the apartment complex pay.
"What if you had somebody you loved taken from you? Wouldn't you want somebody to say something?" asked Howard.
TPD says the case is open and active and that they do have leads.
A lawyer for the complex has yet to respond to our request for comment.