Losing a parent is a difficult ordeal for any child, but even more difficult when both parents are lost. Sadly, this is exactly what happened to the children of Kari Dunn, a woman who was needlessly murdered back in 2013. As a result of her death, a wrongful death lawsuit was filed that recently settled in favor of the late mother’s family after a jury determined that “Kari’s estranged husband and killer Brad Dunn as well as the hotel he fatally stabbed her at, were both at fault for her death.” The jury deliberated for a handful of hours before agreeing to award the family $42 million in damages.
Losing a parent is a difficult ordeal for any child, but even more difficult when both parents are lost. Sadly, this is exactly what happened to the children of Kari Dunn, a woman who was needlessly murdered back in 2013. As a result of her death, a wrongful death lawsuit was filed that recently settled in favor of the late mother’s family after a jury determined that “Kari’s estranged husband and killer Brad Dunn as well as the hotel he fatally stabbed her at, were both at fault for her death.” The jury deliberated for a handful of hours before agreeing to award the family $42 million in damages.
The case itself got started shortly after a deadly incident that occurred back on December 1, 2013. On that fateful day, 31-year-old Kari Dunn was “fatally stabbed by her husband at the former Baymont Inn & Suites, in Marshall, Texas.” Her nine-year-old daughter was present for the attack. According to the wrongful death lawsuit that was later filed by Kari’s father, Henry “Hank” Hunt, Kari’s daughter “attempted to dial 9-1-1 from the hotel room to no avail, because she didn’t realize an extra ‘9’ was first needed in order to reach an outside line.” The lawsuit also claimed the daughter “gestured to two hotel employees that she needed help; however, they didn’t respond nor try to alert the general manager, the only English-speaking employee on duty, of a possible emergency.”
Kari’s father represented her children throughout the ordeal and filed the lawsuit in November 2015 against “hotel owner, OM Lodging LLC, and Kari’s husband, Brad Dunn.” Damages sought were for monetary relief for the children’s “pain, suffering, mental anguish and loss of companionship, as a result of Kari’s death.”
When commenting on the case, Casey Carlile, one of the attorney’s representing the plaintiff, said, “The simple truth is that in an emergency, every second counts.” He added that they ended up suing Brad Dunn “because he stabbed his wife and created a medical emergency that ultimately resulted in Kari’s death,” and said, “We sued OM Lodging because they failed to train their employees on how to respond to an emergency.”
When answering questions as to why he was representing his grandchildren throughout the court proceedings, Hunt said he just wanted to “ensure his grandchildren, who have now lost both parents, are taken care of.” He said, “They deserve that,” and also wanted to make sure “no one else has to experience the tragedy of not being able to receive help in a time of crisis like his grandchildren experienced while at the hotel, where their father killed their mother.”
Sources:
Jury awards Kari Dunn’s family $42 million in wrongful death lawsuit against hotel, husband
Jury awards $41M to family of East Texas woman whose murder led to ‘Kari’s Law’
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