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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
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Escort Service Blamed for Woman’s Death

PHOENIX (CN) - An escort service sent a woman to an address on its "do not send" list, and within 10 minutes of arriving she was stabbed to death, the dead woman's mother claims in court.

Lynette Nelson sued AZ Industries, Maxim Limousine Services, Handel Companies dba AZ Outcall Escorts, and Shane R. Handel, in Maricopa County Court.

Nelson claims the defendants sent her daughter, Crystal MacMartin, to a Scottsdale apartment complex on June 22, 2012, "to provide escort services. Within approximately 10 minutes of arriving at the scene, the deceased was stabbed multiple times and died of those wounds," according to the complaint.

Joseph Michael Matthews was arrested and charged with murder and kidnapping, according to the Scottsdale Police Department. He is scheduled for trial in August 2014.

Nelson claims the defendants had put the apartment on its "bad call" or "do not send" list, as "defendants knew that such address was not a safe location in which to dispatch escorts, and that defendants should not dispatch any escort to an address on that list."

She claims the defendants had a policy requiring them to check the "do not send" list before dispatching an escort. "Had defendants and/or their employees followed defendants' policy and practice regarding checking the scene against defendants' list, defendants and/or their employees would not have dispatched the deceased to the scene," Nelson says.

Nelson seeks general and special damages. She is represented by Brian J. Campbell.

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