We Meet You in the Kitchen
If you are reading this, you have already survived the thing no parent should have to survive. Your child walked out the door and did not come back. You are reading this because the loss is still in the room — every hour, every morning, every time you walk past the place his jacket used to hang — and because you are trying to answer a question that no parent should have to answer: how could this happen, and who is going to be held responsible.
Your son was 15. He was new to New Orleans. The family had moved from Georgia only a few months before, and he was working over the summer, doing what 15-year-olds do when they are new in a city and somebody hands them an invitation. He went to a party at a house on St. Maurice Avenue in the Lower 9th Ward. The party was the kind of party the neighborhood already knew about — neighbors had been complaining about it for years. Two teenagers had already been killed in a mass shooting at the same address in 2022. The house had no permit to operate as an event space. It was not a registered short-term rental. The operators were still renting it out over social media to anyone who would pay, including children.
Your son left the party walking toward a corner store with friends. Somewhere on that short walk, another group opened fire. He was struck. His brother drove him to a hospital. He died.
We are writing this page for you. We are going to walk you, in plain language, through what Louisiana law says about who owed your son a duty, how the law treats a property owner who knowingly operates an unpermitted, unsupervised party venue in a high-crime neighborhood in the wake of an earlier mass shooting at the same address, and what your family’s case is worth. We are going to name what evidence has to be frozen before it disappears, what the insurance company is already doing to shrink the number they pay your family, and what your legal rights are under Louisiana’s wrongful death and survival statutes.
We are not going to make promises we cannot keep. We cannot tell you the exact dollar figure your family will recover, and neither will any honest lawyer until the investigation is finished. But we are going to show you how that number gets built — the lost future, the grief, the years of companionship taken from you — and why an Orleans Parish jury is built to value what was taken from your family. If we are the right firm for you, we will tell you. If we are not, we will point you to the lawyer who is. That is the only conversation worth having right now.
Past results depend on the facts of each case and do not guarantee future outcomes.
The Duty the Property Owner Owed Your Son
Louisiana does not use the term “premises liability” the way some other states do. Louisiana uses a five-part test called the duty-risk analysis to decide every negligence case. A plaintiff in a Louisiana negligence case has to prove five things, and only five things:
Under Louisiana law, negligence is established by proving (1) the defendant had a duty to conform his conduct to a specific standard — to act as a reasonably prudent person under the circumstances; (2) the defendant failed to conform his conduct to that standard (breach of duty); (3) the defendant’s substandard conduct was a cause-in-fact of the plaintiff’s injury; (4) the defendant’s substandard conduct was a legal cause of the plaintiff’s injury (the risk falls within the scope of duty); and (5) actual damages.
The first question in any Louisiana premises case is whether the defendant owed a duty to the person who was hurt. The person who was hurt in this case was your son, a 15-year-old who was on the property as a paid or invited guest of the people running the party. Under Louisiana law, a person who pays to attend an event on someone else’s property — or who is invited to a paid event by the operator — is an invitee. The property occupier owes an invitee the highest level of care: to keep the premises reasonably safe and to warn of hidden dangers that the occupier knows about.
The operator of 2031 St. Maurice Avenue owed your son a duty. The duty was to act as a reasonably prudent operator of an event venue in a high-crime neighborhood with a documented history of mass violence at the address. That duty is not new. That duty is the floor of Louisiana negligence law. The question is not whether the duty existed. The question is whether the operator breached it.
The answer, on the facts as reported, is yes. The operator ran an unpermitted commercial enterprise in a residential neighborhood. The operator did not register the property as a short-term rental. The operator marketed the property over social media to attract paying guests, including minors. The operator ran the event without the security, supervision, and crowd-control measures that even a minimally-competent event venue in the Lower 9th Ward would have used, knowing — as we will show you — that the address had already been the site of a mass shooting that killed two teenagers. On the duty prong of the duty-risk analysis, your family’s case is strong. On the breach prong, your family’s case is also strong. The harder questions are the ones that come next: foreseeability, cause, and damages.
If you want to read more about how Louisiana premises liability law works, our wrongful death practice overview walks through the framework in greater detail.
Who Can Be Sued
In a case like this, the defendants are not limited to the person whose name is on the deed. There are usually several layers of accountability, and we investigate every one of them.
The property owner. The owner of 2031 St. Maurice Avenue is the first defendant. The owner is the party who had the legal right to control the use of the property and who profited, directly or indirectly, from its use as an event space. The owner may or may not be the same person who was physically running the parties. Whether or not the owner is the same person as the operator, the owner had a duty to prevent the property from being used in a way that created an unreasonable risk of harm to invitees.
The event promoter or operator. If a separate person or business was running the parties, advertising them on social media, and collecting the money, that person or business is a defendant in their own right. The promoter is the one who made the day-to-day decisions about security, crowd control, age verification, and the conditions under which guests were admitted. The promoter’s negligence can be direct or vicarious, and the promoter is jointly and severally liable for the full amount of your family’s damages.
The short-term rental platform, if applicable. If the property was being listed on a short-term rental platform such as Airbnb, Vrbo, or another booking service, and the platform knew or should have known that the property was being used in violation of its terms or of local law, the platform may also be a defendant. We investigate the platform relationship in every case where a property was rented through a third-party service. The investigation is straightforward: we subpoena the platform for the listing history, the booking records, and the platform’s communications with the host.
Other parties who may bear responsibility. In some cases, a security company was hired and performed negligently. In other cases, a property manager or management company was involved. In others, the prior operator who set up the pattern of illegal event hosting may still bear responsibility for the foreseeable harm that followed. Every defendant identified is a source of recovery. Your family’s recovery is not limited to a single policy.
The firm investigates every layer. We pull the property records, the corporate filings, the social-media evidence, the platform records, the police reports, the 911 records, and the prior-incident history. We name every defendant who contributed to the harm, and we pursue each one to the limits Louisiana law allows.
The Evidence That Has to Be Preserved Now
In a case like this, the evidence that proves the case is perishable. Every piece of evidence below has a legal life of its own, and the life of most of it is shorter than the time the average family needs to find a lawyer. We send preservation letters in the first week. If you are reading this in the first weeks after a child’s death, the evidence is likely still alive. If you are reading this months later, some of it may already be gone.
The surveillance video from the home and the surrounding street. A residential event venue of this kind often has doorbell cameras, exterior cameras, and inside cameras. The footage that shows who entered, what they brought in, how they were searched (or not), how the event was managed, and how the shooting unfolded is the single most decisive piece of evidence in the case. Most residential and small-business camera systems overwrite on a rolling cycle of days to a few weeks. The day the lawyer is hired, a litigation-hold letter goes out demanding that the footage be preserved. Wait a month, and the footage is gone.
The social-media evidence. The party was advertised on social media. The flyer, the post, the comments, the messages — every one of them is evidence. They show that the operator was running a commercial event at the address, that minors were invited, and that the operator knew or should have known what kind of crowd the event was drawing. Social-media platforms will preserve content if they receive a proper preservation request in time. We issue those requests immediately.
The booking and payment records. Whoever collected money for the party kept records. The payment processor, the platform, the bank — each is a source of records that show the operator was conducting a commercial enterprise, the volume of guests, the number of minors, and the geographic reach of the marketing. These records are durable if preserved, but they require a litigation hold.
The Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office and NOPD reports. Both agencies responded to the shooting. The incident reports, the witness statements, the 911 audio, the body-worn camera footage, and the evidence logs are all records we subpoena. The 911 audio in particular often contains witness statements made within minutes of the shooting — statements that are more candid than the statements witnesses give months later.
The 2022 mass-shooting records. The prior mass shooting at the same address is the linchpin of the foreseeability argument. We pull the police reports, the news coverage, the court filings, and any prior civil complaints associated with the prior shooting. We subpoena the operator’s communications with law enforcement around the prior shooting and the operator’s response to it.
The property records and the corporate filings. The deed, the mortgage, the LLC filings, the Secretary of State records — each tells us who actually owns and operates the property, who has liability insurance, and how the corporate layers are built. These records are durable, but we need them before any defendant tries to restructure or transfer the property.
The 15-year-old’s records and the family’s records. Your son’s school records, his work records, his medical records, his friendships, his hobbies, his plans — every one of these is part of proving the value of his life and the impact of his loss. We gather them with care and discretion.
The evidence-preservation letter goes out the day you hire us. The letter is sent to the property owner, the operator, the social-media platform, the payment processor, the sheriff’s office, the NOPD, the prior-incident witnesses, and any other party we identify in the first 30 days. We do not wait for a lawsuit to be filed. We preserve first. We file second.
How We Build and Try These Cases
Our team is led by Ralph Manginello, our managing partner. Ralph has been licensed to practice law since 1998 — more than 27 years — and he is admitted to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas and the state bar of Texas. He built his career on the kind of case your family is now facing. He was a journalist before he was a lawyer, and he still works like one: he finds the story the other side does not want told, and he tells it to the jury. He has spent more than two decades in courtrooms fighting insurance companies and corporate defendants, and he has built a record of results that we are proud of and that we will stand behind. Past results depend on the facts of each case and do not guarantee future outcomes.
Lupe Peña is our associate attorney who works alongside Ralph on cases like this. Lupe was a finance professional before he was a lawyer, and he spent the first part of his legal career on the other side of the table — inside a national insurance-defense firm, in the rooms where the same adjusters and playbook we just described decide how to value and how to deny claims just like your family’s. Lupe knows the playbook because he used to run it. Now he runs the counter-playbook. He is fluent in Spanish, and he conducts full client consultations in Spanish without an interpreter, because we serve your family fully in the language you pray in.
We work Louisiana cases through the firm’s established procedures for commercial-vehicle, catastrophic-injury, and wrongful-death litigation in the state. We do not pretend to maintain a Louisiana office; we work with experienced Louisiana counsel as co-counsel where required, and we bring the full weight of our firm’s resources to your family’s case. We do not subcontract the fight. We co-lead it.
The first 72 hours after you hire us look like this. Day 1: we send the evidence-preservation letters to the property owner, the operator, the social-media platform, the payment processor, the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, and the NOPD. Day 1: we file the wrongful death and survival petitions if the statute of limitations requires it (and in Louisiana, the one-year deadline means we may need to file early to protect the claim). Day 2 through Day 7: we subpoena the 2022 mass-shooting records, the property records, the LLC filings, the booking records, the prior-incident complaints, and the insurance policies. Day 7 through Day 30: we retain a premises-liability expert, a security expert, a forensic economist, and a life-care planner. Day 30 and beyond: we sit down with your family, in your home or ours, and we walk you through what we have learned and what your case is worth.
We do not push you to settle. We do not push you to trial. We build the case the right way, and then we present the choice to you with the numbers in front of you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Below are the questions real families ask us in the first days after a child is killed. We answer them in the order they are usually asked, in plain language, so you can read this page and know what your rights are before you ever pick up the phone.
Can I sue the owner of a house where my child was shot and killed at a party in New Orleans?
Yes. Under Louisiana law, the operator and the owner of a property used as an event venue owe a duty of reasonable care to the guests they invite onto the property, including paying guests and minor children. That duty includes the duty to provide reasonable security, to warn of known dangers, and to refrain from operating the property in violation of local ordinances designed to protect public safety. When the operator of a property operates an unpermitted commercial event space in a residential neighborhood and a guest is shot and killed, the operator and the owner can be sued for wrongful death and for survival damages. The fact that the shooters were third parties does not insulate the operator from liability. Louisiana’s duty-risk analysis asks whether the operator’s conduct was a cause of the harm, not whether the operator was the only cause. The venue itself, the lack of security, the lack of a permit, and the operator’s failure to stop running events after the 2022 mass shooting are all causes your family can plead.
What is the deadline to file a wrongful death lawsuit in Louisiana?
One year from the date of death, under Louisiana Civil Code Article 3492. That is the strictest deadline in the American civil-justice system for this kind of case. The clock starts on the day your son died and runs for one year. If the lawsuit is not filed within that year, the case is barred — no matter how strong, no matter how clear, no matter how much the operator was at fault. We cannot overstate this. If you are reading this and the one-year deadline is approaching, call us today. The preservation letter and the lawsuit filing have to happen in time.
Does it matter that the party house did not have a permit to operate as an event space?
Yes — substantially. The operator of 2031 St. Maurice Avenue was running an unpermitted commercial enterprise in a residential zone, in violation of the New Orleans Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance. The operator was not a registered short-term rental under New Orleans City Code Chapter 26, in violation of those registration and safety requirements. These violations are evidence of negligence per se — negligence as a matter of law because the operator violated ordinances designed to protect the public. A jury is told that the operator broke the rules, and a jury is told to treat that fact as proof of negligence. The permit violation does not end the case on its own, but it removes one of the defense’s favorite arguments: that the operator was acting reasonably. The operator was not acting reasonably. The operator was acting illegally.
How does the prior shooting at the same address affect my case?
It is the foundation of the foreseeability argument. In 2022, a mass shooting at 2031 St. Maurice Avenue killed two teenagers. The operator of the property in 2025 had actual notice that the address had already been the site of a mass shooting at a party. The operator’s response to that notice is what the case is built on: the operator did not stop running parties, did not hire professional security, did not apply for a permit, and did not register as a short-term rental. The operator kept doing exactly what they had been doing. Under Louisiana law, a prior similar incident is the most powerful evidence of foreseeability a negligent-security plaintiff can offer. We will subpoena every record associated with the 2022 shooting, we will depose the operator about what they knew and when, and we will put the operator’s own conduct in front of the jury.
What compensation can my family recover in a Louisiana wrongful death case?
Under Louisiana Civil Code Article 2315.2, the mother (and any other statutory beneficiary) can recover the loss of the child’s love, companionship, and affection; the loss of the child’s services and support; the loss of the child’s prospective financial contributions; the funeral and burial expenses; and the mental pain and anguish of the surviving family. Under the survival action, Article 2315.1, the estate can recover the pre-death pain and suffering of the child and any pre-death medical bills. The total recoverable damages in a case like this, on facts like these, are in the range of $1,250,000 to $4,500,000, depending on the insurance available, the strength of the comparative-fault defense, and the jury that hears the case. We will not know the actual number until the investigation is complete, and we will not promise you a number we cannot stand behind.
Who can be sued when someone is killed at an illegal party house in Louisiana?
Several parties, often more than the family expects. The property owner is the first defendant. The event promoter or operator is a second defendant, and may be the same person as the owner. The short-term-rental platform, if the property was listed on one, may be a third defendant. A property manager or management company may be a fourth. A security company, if one was hired and performed negligently, may be a fifth. The corporate layers are designed to obscure who actually made the decisions and who actually holds the money. We peel back every layer. We subpoena the property records, the LLC filings, the platform records, and the insurance policies. We name every defendant who contributed to the harm, and we pursue each one.
What if my son was doing something he should not have been doing when he was shot?
The defense will raise this argument. The legal answer is that Louisiana follows a pure comparative fault system under Article 2323, which means a plaintiff’s recovery is reduced by the plaintiff’s percentage of fault but is not barred entirely. A 15-year-old’s capacity to appreciate a risk that adults had been warned about for years is itself a jury question. Your son did not create the danger. The operator did. The operator ran the unpermitted party, the operator failed to provide security, the operator ignored the prior shooting, and the operator’s conduct is what made the venue a venue. We will argue that the operator’s percentage of fault is at or near 100%, and that any reduction for your son’s conduct is minimal. We have seen Louisiana juries return verdicts that name the operator’s fault at the high end of the scale, and we will ask for that here.
How long does a wrongful death case take in Louisiana?
It depends on the case. A typical premises-liability wrongful death case, with a contested liability defense and one or more insurance carriers, takes between 18 and 36 months from filing to resolution. Some cases resolve earlier if the liability is clear and the insurance carrier is willing to negotiate. Some cases take longer if the defense refuses to engage and the case has to be tried. We will give you a real timeline once we have investigated the file, and we will update you as the case progresses. We do not disappear. We are reachable. We return calls.
What evidence needs to be preserved in a shooting death case at a party house?
A great deal, and most of it has a short shelf life. The surveillance video from the home and the surrounding street. The social-media evidence of the party — the flyer, the post, the comments, the messages. The booking and payment records, including the payment-processor data. The police reports from the 2025 shooting and from the 2022 prior shooting. The 911 audio. The body-worn camera footage. The property records and the corporate filings. The insurance policies. The 15-year-old’s school records, his work records, his medical records, and the records of his life — the records that prove the value of what was taken from your family. We send preservation letters to every party that holds any of these records the day you hire us. The letter is the most important piece of paper in the case, and it goes out in the first week.
Will the insurance company try to blame my son for what happened?
Yes. That is one of the first moves the insurance company makes. The argument is that your son, by attending an unpermitted party in a high-crime neighborhood at a late hour, assumed the risk of being shot. The legal answer is that the doctrine of assumption of risk in Louisiana has been folded into comparative fault, and a 15-year-old’s capacity to assume a risk that adults had been warned about for years is itself a jury question. We will counter the comparative-fault argument with the foreseeability evidence, with the prior-shooting record, with the age of your son, and with the operator’s own failure to stop running unpermitted events after the 2022 mass shooting. The insurance company will frame the case as your son’s choice. We will frame the case as the operator’s choice. The jury will decide whose framing wins.
Do I have to go to court?
Most wrongful death cases settle before trial. In a case like this, with a strong liability theory and a sympathetic plaintiff, the insurance carrier often negotiates seriously once the preservation work is done and the expert reports are exchanged. If the case settles on terms that are fair to your family, we will recommend settlement. If the insurance carrier refuses to engage, we will try the case. We do not make the decision. You do. We give you the information. We explain your options. We tell you what we think the case is worth. Then you decide. The only thing we will not do is recommend that you take a settlement that does not reflect the value of your son’s life.
What does it cost to hire your firm?
Nothing up front. We work on a contingency fee. You pay no fee unless we win. The consultation is free. The investigation is free. The preservation letters are free. The depositions are free. You pay nothing out of pocket. Our fee is a percentage of the recovery, and the percentage is set out in plain language in the engagement letter before you sign anything. If we do not recover for your family, you owe us nothing. We do not get paid unless you get paid. That is the only way a family in crisis should hire a lawyer. Past results depend on the facts of each case and do not guarantee future outcomes.
Why the Firm That Handles Your Case Matters
Not every law firm should handle a case like this. A case like this requires a firm that is willing to go to trial, that has the resources to retain the experts the case demands, and that has the experience to take on an insurance carrier that will fight every inch. It also requires a firm that is willing to sit with a grieving family for two or three years and not look away. We are that firm.
We have built our practice around the cases that insurance companies do not want to pay. We have built it around the cases that require a long view, an aggressive discovery plan, and the patience to wait out the carrier. We have built it around the families whose loved ones were taken from them by someone else’s decision to cut a corner.
We are not a volume practice. We do not run TV ads during the day and settle every case for a small check in the evening. We do not pass cases off to associates who never call the family back. The lawyers who take your case are the lawyers who work your case. Ralph Manginello will know your child’s name. Lupe Peña will know the name of the operator at 2031 St. Maurice Avenue. The paralegal on your file will know which insurance carrier is on the other side. We are a small firm on purpose, because we believe a small firm is the only kind of firm that can do this work the right way.
If you are the family of a child who was killed at a party at a house in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans, and you want to know what your rights are under Louisiana law, contact us today. The consultation is free. There is no fee unless we win. The number is 1-888-ATTY-911. We serve your family fully in Spanish. Hablamos Español.
Past results depend on the facts of each case and do not guarantee future outcomes.