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Friday, March 29, 2024 | Back issues
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Planned Parenthood Sued|for Colorado Shooting

DENVER (CN) - The wife and young daughter of the military veteran killed in the Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood shootings have sued Planned Parenthood for his wrongful death.

Anti-abortion crusader Robert Dear killed three people and wounded 12 on Nov. 27, 2015 in and around the Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood Clinic. He is in a Colorado mental hospital being treated for a delusional disorder. A judge will revisit his case in August to determine if he is fit to stand trial.

The wife and daughter of Ke'Arre Stewart sued Planned Parenthood's national and Rocky Mountains chapters and the property owner on Friday in Denver County District Court.

Stewart, 29, was accompanying a friend to the clinic when Dear shot him near the front entrance. His wife, Ashley Stewart, says the clinic did not have adequate security.

It should have known better, Stewart says, as in recent years Planned Parenthood offices have come "under increasingly violent attacks" by anti-abortion groups, who have "made it clear they would use violent and deadly means" against Planned Parenthood.

Stewart says Planned Parenthood offices "have been the targets of thousands of verbal threats and have been the actual targets of well over 300 acts of direct violence, including arson, bombings, approximately a dozen murders and butyric acid attacks."

A secure point of entry would have acted "as a barrier for those who would attempt to enter unlawfully and for the purpose of injuring or killing those within the premises," the complaint states.

Stewart also says Planned Parenthood failed to train employees to deal with violence.

She seeks damages for wrongful death, negligence, premises liability, and loss of consortium.

She is represented by Kirk McCormick with McCormick & Murphy, who did not respond immediately to a request for comment. Nor did Planned Parenthood.

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