File photos by Sarah Bennett.
The family of a man killed by a homeless man who threw an incendiary device into the victim’s car nearly two years ago has abandoned their lawsuit against the City of Long Beach, just days before a court was scheduled to consider the City’s motion to dismiss the action, according to a statement from the Long Beach Office of the City Attorney.
The lawsuit stemmed from the April 14, 2013 killing of Jerry Payne, who was burned to death in his car in a 7-Eleven parking lot after Raymond Sean Clark, a panhandler, walked over to the car and threw in an incendiary device.
Payne’s brothers and sisters filed a lawsuit against the 7-Eleven store, located at 5109 Pacific Coast Highway, and against the City of Long Beach. They claimed the city “failed to provide adequate police protection and guard against Clark’s violent propensities, and the dangerous propensities of the local transients/vagrants/panhandlers,” according to city attorney’s statement.
Immediately following that lawsuit, the Long Beach City Attorney’s Office filed a motion to dismiss the action, called a demurrer, arguing that under state law, the city cannot be legally held responsible for random acts of violence.
As the motion hearing date of March 26, 2015 approached, Payne’s family and their attorney agreed to dismiss the lawsuit against the City, but the one against 7-Eleven still stands.
Clark, who was charged with murder in April 2013, is being held without bail at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles, according to an independent jail records search by the Long Beach Post. Clark’s next court appearance is scheduled for April 8.
According to the City Attorney, Clark’s motives for killing Payne are unknown. However, according to the complaint filed by the victim’s family, Clark “had a history of violence and threatening persons while panhandling, which was known to the City.” The complaint further alleges that “Clark was the subject of a restraining order, which the City did not enforce.”
