Wrongful-death lawsuit filed by 13-year-old victim's family

Josey1

Wrongful-death lawsuit filed by 13-year-old victim's familySaturday, October 13, 2001Tim DoulinDispatch Staff ReporterA teen-age boy who accidentally shot and killed his classmate is being sued by the family of his victim. Kyle Proffit's mother and former stepfather also are named in the wrongful-death lawsuit that was filed this week in Franklin County Common Pleas Court on behalf of the family of Matthew M. Osborne. The suit seeks in excess of $100,000. Proffit, who was 14 at the time, said he shot 13-year-old Osborne on Jan. 18, 2000, while playing with a .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun at his home on W. Broad Street. Proffit pleaded guilty last year to a delinquency count of reckless homicide in Franklin County Juvenile Court. He was the first person in the state convicted and sentenced under the new reckless-homicide law. He is serving time in a juvenile- detention facility, where he could be held until age 21. The suit says Proffit recklessly and negligently pointed the loaded gun at Osborne and fired it at close range in the living room of the home. Osborne was struck in the face. The handgun belonged to Proffit's former stepfather, William J. Gannon Jr. The suit says that Gannon and Kelly Gannon, Proffit's mother, were negligent for failing to ensure the weapon was properly kept in a locked and secure gun case and for not having a trigger lock on the firearm. The couple also were negligent for failing to keep the ammunition separate from the weapon and for failing to train the teen how to properly and safely use the gun, the suit says. Proffit and Osborne skipped classes at Hilltonia Middle School the morning of the shooting and ended up at Proffit's home. The gun and ammunition were kept in a locked toolbox in the garage at the family's home. Kyle pried open the box and loaded the gun, authorities said. Gannon was charged with negligent homicide in connection with the death but was acquitted of the charge in Franklin County Municipal Court. He was convicted in federal court of possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number and sentenced to one year of probation and fined $100. The gun had been stolen from the car of a Columbus police detective. Gannon was not implicated in the theft but ended up with the weapon after it had changed hands several times, authorities said. Two men involved in the theft of the weapon and a third man who sold the stolen weapon to Gannon were later convicted of criminal charges and sentenced in federal court. http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/news/news01/oct01/889514.html

.250Savage

It WAS secured! How can they say it wasn't? It was in a locked toolbox, apparently unloaded, since he had to load it. Hope this lawsuit goes the way of the dodo bird.

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