ORLANDO, Fla. -- The fiancee of the man killed in last year's fatal downtown shooting has filed a negligence lawsuit and WFTV obtained a copy of it.
(Read the Lawsuit Filed By Fiancee)
Otis Beckford was killed in November 2009 at the Gateway Center by confessed gunman Jason Rodriguez. The lawsuit says "Reynolds, Smith, and Hills," the engineering firm where Beckford worked, could have done more to protect him.
There are claims that Rodriguez had made serious threats before, pointing his fingers like a gun and referencing a future massacre. The lawsuit even claims some of his threats came on bloody notes.
Daneicka Coley slapped Beckford's former employer and the security company at the Gateway Center with a lawsuit. She wants money for herself and for Beckford's daughter.
Louis Diniscia remembers November 6, 2009 like it was yesterday. He remembers the fear and the panic.
"Scary, pretty much scary. Didn't know where he was," he said.
Diniscia knew people working on the floor where Rodriguez stormed in with a gun and opened fire, killing Beckford and wounding five others. Rodriguez had been fired two years earlier.
"Why did you do it?" WFTV asked Rodriguez in 2009.
"Cause they left me to rot," he replied.
The suit claims Rodriguez made threats at Reynolds, Smith and Hills before the shooting. In a statement, a spokesman for the company said about the alleged threats: "I'm not aware of that and wouldn't want to comment until we've seen what's in the lawsuit."
But the suit claims the company was negligent and didn't do enough to keep Rodriguez out. It also claims the security, run by Allied Barton Security, was negligent, that the guard left his post to look for Rodriguez when they heard he was in the building and that's when Rodriguez walked right past the empty post.
The new information has people wondering if more could have been done.
"It's really sad somebody had to die," Diniscia said.
Daneicka Coley is seeking at least $15,000. WFTV attempted to reach her and her attorney, but did not receive a call back.
Rodriguez is facing first-degree murder charges, but has been found incompetent to help in his own defense.
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