2nd lawsuit filed in Thanksgiving shooting case - MiamiHerald.com
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- A man whose pregnant wife was killed in a 2009 Thanksgiving rampage filed a lawsuit Thursday against the suspect's parents, the second such complaint filed in a week.
Patrick Knight, whose wife Lisa died in the shootout, filed the lawsuit against Michael and Carole Merhige, his former in-laws. The Merhiges' son Paul - Knight's former brother-in-law - awaits trial in the killings. He has pleaded not guilty.
Knight himself nearly died in the attack. He was shot in the stomach and spent three months in a coma before awakening to the news his wife was killed.
The lawsuit makes Knight the fourth person in the past week to blame the Merhiges in the shootings. Muriel and Jim Sitton, whose 6-year-old daughter Makayla Joy was killed, and Antoine Joseph, whose wife Raymonde was killed, sued separately last week.
The Merhiges "had a special relationship with all those in attendance at the Thanksgiving dinner," the lawsuit alleges, "and had a duty to protect them from Paul Merhige, a person with dangerous propensities."
The complaint says the suspect's parents knew of their son's violent tendencies and were victims themselves. It says they knew of their son's "irrational violence, resentment, anger and aggressiveness toward his immediate and extended family members" and knew that he had an affinity and familiarity with guns.
The lawsuit also claims the parents knew their son had stopped mental health treatment. It suggests they should have known their son may have planned to leave the area, claiming they had provided their son with his passport in the days before the shooting and that he had taken an old license plate from their home.
The attorney who filed the lawsuit, H. Joshua Diamond, did not return a call Thursday seeking comment.
A message left at the Merhiges' home was not immediately returned. It's unclear if they have an attorney.
Some 16 people gathered at the Sittons' home in Jupiter on Nov. 26, 2009, eating a traditional dinner, and sitting in a horseshoe, singing church songs around the brown Baldwin piano. Police said Merhige left the house at one point that evening, then returned with a gun, saying "I have been waiting 20 years to do this."
He was on the run for more than a month, but now awaits a trial expected to take place in January. He could face the death penalty if convicted.
In all, four people were killed in the Thanksgiving ambush, but the story of 6-year-old Makayla Joy Sitton has become most well-known, because of her age. Videos showed her captivating personality, and a children's book she wrote was posthumously published. A foundation has been started in her name and an annual concert is held in her honor.
23 Sep, 2011--
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