New Bedford girl's fatal shooting in Boston hotel spurs wrongful death lawsuit

BOSTON — A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed in connection with the shooting death of a 17-year-old New Bedford girl at the Hyatt Regency Boston Hotel in 2021.

Nalijah Andrade, of New Bedford, had gone to the hotel with three other underage girls to meet with four men who had rented two hotel rooms in which to party on the night of Feb. 4, 2021, according to the lawsuit filed Aug. 29 in Suffolk Superior Court.

The lawsuit states the men paid for an Uber to bring the underage girls from New Bedford to Boston. Three of the men, who were between the ages of 19 and 21, had brought alcohol and drugs into the hotel.

They provided some false or incomplete identification to the hotel when checking in, according to the lawsuit.

A fourth man arrived a short time later with a loaded 9 mm pistol, according to reports.

He gave a false name when he signed-in to the hotel, the lawsuit states.

The men consumed alcohol, smoked marijuana and played with the gun for several hours prior to the arrival of the four underage girl at 11 p.m., the lawsuit states.

A weapon discharged, killing New Bedford teen

Once in the rooms, the fourth man continued to handle the weapon which discharged and shot Andrade in the head killing her, the lawsuit states.

Messiah Leggett, who was 21 at the time of the shooting, of Mattapan, was charged with involuntary manslaughter and gun charges and is awaiting trial. Gun charges were also filed against one of the other men.

The Suffolk County District Attorney's Office said evidence indicated that the individuals were taking selfies with the gun. At approximately 11:30 p.m., Leggett was allegedly handling the gun in a playful manner when Andrade swatted at his hand, causing him to accidentally discharge a single round of ammunition. The bullet struck the victim in the head, killing her, according to the DA's Office.

The lawsuit against Hyatt Corporation and Hyatt Regency Boston seeks "damages for wrongful death due to the negligence and gross negligence" of the defendants.

Attorney Steven P. Sabra is representing Andrade’s mother, Diva Duarte, as the personal representative of the estate and on her own behalf.

Sabra stated “the two defendants in the criminal matters are not the only ones to be held accountable for this tragedy. The hotel and its lax security and check-in policies and procedures also were major contributing factors and must be held accountable.”

The Hyatt Regency Boston Hotel had already been cited by the Boston Police after a licensed premises inspection for two other incidents, an armed robbery and prostitution on the premises, and a hearing had been scheduled for Feb. 23, 2021, he said.

Sabra also indicated that the Boston Police report regarding the inspection included the fact that within the six months prior to the killing of Andrade, the Boston Police Department had responded to more than 150 calls for services with over 70 police reports being generated.

“What stands out is that this occurred during the height of the pandemic when the hotel’s business, like all hospitality providers, was suffering, and, in my opinion, created a desperate situation to rent rooms to try to make a profit,” Sabra said.

That desperation to cut costs and rent rooms, he claims, allowed the hotel to loosen its security and check-in protocols so as not to lose any further business.

He added, “the Hyatt hotel had a duty to guests, visitors, and employees to provide reasonable security for the hotel, and to hire, properly train and to supervise qualified individuals to act as security guards.”

In this case, Sabra said, “the hotel only had a veneer of security.”

Three men used false names and identification

The check-in procedure was lacking in that three of the men provided false names and identification.

Alcohol was brought into the hotel with three of the four men being under the legal age of 21.

He said there is no indication that periodic patrols of the hallways were undertaken which would have alerted the hotel to the marijuana smoke coming from the hotel rooms they rented.

When the Uber driver dropped off the four girls at the hotel just after 11 p.m., there were no security guards who inquired whether they were staying at the hotel, asked for any identification or even approached them under these suspicious circumstances, Sabra stated.

He said that Andrade's mother has been devastated by the untimely death of her daughter, who was a high school student in New Bedford and held down a part-time job while she went to school.

She also had a talent for doing hair and makeup for other girls for big events, such as proms, according to her mother.

Hyatt representatives did not respond to a request for comment.

This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: New Bedford girl's fatal shooting spurs lawsuit against Boston hotel