Lawsuit filed against Cabela's by family of Wilmington woman killed with straw purchase gun

Esteban Parra | The News Journal

Show Caption Hide Caption Cabela’s sued in straw purchase killing The family of a 19-year-old mother killed in a 2016 shooting is filing a lawsuit against the store where the weapon was bought in a straw purchase.

The family of a 19-year-old mother killed in a 2016 drive-by shooting in Wilmington is suing Cabela's, where the weapon was bought in a straw purchase.

The lawsuit, filed by the family of Keshall "KeKe" Anderson, alleges Cabela's negligence caused her death when they sold a gun to a woman who then turned it over to her boyfriend who was legally barred from buying a firearm. Cabela's, nor its parent company, Bass Pro Group, could be immediately reached for comment Wednesday.

Bass Pro Group is also named in the lawsuit

"Federally licensed firearm dealers such as Cabela’s are well aware that straw purchases are one of the main ways that guns end up in the hands of felons and dangerous individuals and that a straw purchase is a violation of state and federal law," lawyers representing the family said in a statement.

The lawsuit claims the purchasers of the gun used to kill Anderson showed clear signs that Cabela's "knew or should have known that a straw purchase was underway." The lawsuit also claims the store, located at Christiana Mall, did not stop the purchase, notify law enforcement or "comply with its legal obligations."

The 28-page complaint seeks compensatory and punitive damages alleging Anderson's death has created physical and emotional pain, as well as suffering and loss of parental services for her now-2 year old son.

The lawsuit was filed by the Wilmington law firm of Hudson & Castle and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, a Washington D.C.-based organization that advocates for gun control.

The Brady Center has filed similar civil suits against gun dealers in other states, including one earlier this year against a Newton, Kansas, pawn shop that the group claims negligently sold firearms in a straw purchase that were then "used by a known convicted felon" in the 2016 workplace shooting at Excel Industries near Hesston, Kansas.

One of the guns was a semi-automatic assault rifle, similar to the type used by gunmen in recent mass shootings in Parkland, Florida; Las Vegas and Sutherland Springs, Texas, according to that lawsuit filed in February.

This is the first time the organization has filed a suit against Cabela's or Bass Pro Shops. Lawyers also said this is the first such civil lawsuit filed in Delaware.

Jonathan Lowy, vice president of litigation at the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, said the suit is not against guns or the Second Amendment.

"This is a pro-safety case which most gun dealers and gun owners should agree with and do agree with," Lowy said, adding most gun dealers are responsible business owners and take their responsibilities seriously.

The Brady Center said it has won landmark cases holding irresponsible gun dealers accountable in courts across the country, including in Florida, Indiana and Kansas. Lowy added that over the years, the center has won millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts.

“We’ve certainly had success in a good number of cases,” he said.

Civil suits brought on by others against gun dealers have also been successful.

A Wisconsin jury declared in 2015 that a gun store had to pay nearly $6 million to two Milwaukee police officers who were shot by a firearm purchased at the store.

While about 90 percent of gun dealers sell zero weapons that are traced to crimes in a given year, he said a small percentage of gun dealers sell about 90 percent of firearms used in crimes.

"That's about 5 percent of gun dealers selling virtually the entire criminal gun market," he said.

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During the summer of 2016, 28-year-old John Kuligowski, who was barred from purchasing a firearm, directed his girlfriend, Brilena Hardwick, to buy a .40-caliber handgun from Cabela's, according to federal court records.

Kuligowski almost immediately traded the firearm for a stolen semiautomatic .22-caliber handgun.

A few weeks later, on Sept. 18, 2016, Anderson was walking along West 20th Street when gunfire erupted, fatally striking her in the back. Anderson was an innocent bystander, Wilmington police said.

The gunfire also hit a 19-year-old man in the left leg and buttocks. During the investigation, police determined the shooter used the same gun that had been purchased from Cabela's.

Abdullah Brown and Denota Carney, who were both 16 at the time, were charged with Anderson's killing, but their trial ended in April in a mistrial. A new trial is scheduled for next year.

Kuligowski was sentenced in federal court to 27 months in prison for the offense of possessing a firearm by a person prohibited. Following his prison stint, Kuligowski will be on supervised release for three years. Hardwick, who also was charged, was sentenced last month to one year and one day in prison.

Anderson's lawsuit claims that guns sold to straw purchasers by the Christiana Mall Cabela's were used in at least three other shootings in Wilmington since May 2016.

While not giving details on the other straw purchases, last year The News Journal reported that Darius Shields-Dryden was sentenced to 3 years in federal prison for supplying guns to young Wilmington gang members that he purchased at Cabela's.

Police pulled surveillance footage from Cabela's that showed a convicted member of the Only My Brothers street gang looking at guns with Shields-Dryden. Because Shields-Dryden had a clean criminal record, he was able to buy an Astra A-80 .45-caliber pistol and a Smith & Wesson Chiefs Special .40-caliber for the gang member and his friends.

Shields-Dryden's crimes were highlighted in a News Journal series published last year that analyzed shooting statistics covering a 3½-year period through June of this year from the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit that compiles law enforcement and news media reports.

"KeKe Anderson should be alive today, with her mom and young son," Lowy told reporters during a Wednesday press conference. "KeKe's family wants to prevent other families from suffering as they have suffered and to make sure that gun dealers live up to their obligations to act reasonably and not sell guns to straw purchasers or other dangerous people. KeKe’s family deserves justice."

Wilmington lawyer Ben Castle said that far too many young men and women are falling victim to gun violence in Delaware's largest city.

"To look only to those who pulled the trigger is to miss the point," Castle said. "This is a much more deeply rooted issue in our community and we have to take steps to be sure from the start that guns are not landing in the hands of dangerous people any longer."

In March, state lawmakers approved an increase in the maximum prison sentence for an initial violation of Delaware's prohibition against straw purchases. The bill raises that penalty from 3 years to 5 years in prison.

Contact Esteban Parra at (302) 324-2299, eparra@delawareonline.com or Twitter @eparra3.