Legal Question in Personal Injury in California

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You, actually your sister's legal heirs, may have a case here. More investigation of the facts are needed however. Did you tell the cops about what you wrote above? If so, the boyfriend seems like a prime suspect here.

I am deeply sorry to read about you sister's horrible passing.

It is possible there may be a case somewhere here, but this case will be all about "duty". The defense will assert that you sister was not an unknowing tenant. Instead, she was the live in girlfriend of this man, which is a much different relationship than your sister simply being a tenant. That said, your sister could have, and probably would have suffered the same fate with this man had they rented an apartment in Chicago.

Another consideration is, while your sister's mother apparently knew how dangerous this man was, your sister knew as well, and that was the man she chose to remain with.

I truly wish you and your family the best through this terrible time. Good luck.

Allow a quick correction as it is difficult to answer questions on these little phones. I meant to say, your sister's boyfriend's mother.

I am sorry for you loss and that of you family. Clearly, the facts of your sister's death is suspicious. Time ad both a police and coroner's further investigation should provide more answers. But that being said if the property owner's son is ultimately convicted of killing your sister than prior knowledge of his violent conduct might be a key issue even though her insurance company most likely argue that it/she cannot be liable (verses guilty) for the criminal actions of her son. A potential case for you and other similarly positioned family heirs may potentially exist enough to warrant further investigation but more facts will be required. I hope this helps.

I'm so sorry for your loss. How awful.

Your sister's estate may have a decent case against the the boyrfriend's mother, but my guess is that it doesn't. The executor should consult with lawyers to see whether there is a case worth bringing.

In order to win such a case, the estate would have to prove that the mother owed your sister a duty to protect her from the boyfriend, that she breached that duty, and that the breach was a contributing factor to your sister's death. My sense is that she had no such duty, either as the suspect's mother or as his landlord. Even if she did, I think it will be hard to prove causation.

Your sister's death was caused by her killer, not by the killer's landlord (assuming that the killer was the boyfriend). Even if one person's negligence set the stage for harm to someone else, she generally won't be liable if the harm was actually caused by the intentional acts of a third party. That is not always true, but it often is.

There is a more fundamental question, though. Your theory seems to be that the mother should have evicted the son, and that her failure to do so was wrongful. Even if it was, that does not mean it played any part in your sister's death. Her boyfriend likely would have been just as capable of killing her if he lived somewhere else. The fact that he was living in a house his mother owned probably did not contribute to what happened. If I'm right about that, then the estate will have a hard time convincing a jury to hold the mother liable.

Even if the mother is liable, she will only bear a fraction of the responsibility for what happened. The jury would have to decide how much. The boyfriend will almost surely be assigned most of the blame. Let's say the mother was negligent and the jury says she was 10% at fault. The jury would have to decide how much compensation your sister's estate should receive, and would then enter a judgment against the mother for 10% of that amount.

These are just my initial thoughts about a very sad and complicated case. The executor really does need to consult with a lawyer in more depth than we can offer here.

Good luck, and my condolences again on this tragedy.