Dad shot and killed moments after entering bar, California family says. They’re suing
What started out as a night of celebration at a California bar for Blanca Rosas ended in tragedy.
Moments after her longtime boyfriend Tyrone Tyars stepped into Machista in San Pedro on Jan. 20, to pick her up from her co-worker’s birthday celebration, he was shot and killed, according to Jasmine Mines, an attorney representing the family.
“I never thought one night of going out celebrating someone’s birthday will destroy my whole family,” Rosas said clutching a photo of her family at a news conference. “My kids are left without a father.”
Now, the family is suing the bar and its owner on behalf of the couple’s two children. The lawsuit, filed on April 5 in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleges wrongful death and negligence.
In a direct message on Instagram, Machista’s bar owner told McClatchy News that “there was no negligence on our end.”
“This particular San Pedro neighborhood we are in is not safe and we cannot be solely responsible for all the crimes that are committed there,” the owner said. “The claims being made on behalf of Blanca Rosas are also false.”
A Google listing for the bar accessed on April 10 shows it is permanently closed.
Arrest months later
The night 33-year-old Tyars was killed, Rosas and another patron were also shot “after a dispute between multiple parties,” police said in a March 11 news release.
Rosas said she was shot three times, adding she needed a walker when she left the hospital after surgery.
Estrella Rojas, 18, a suspect in the shooting, was arrested in March, police said. Rojas is also a suspect in an unrelated San Pedro shooting on Jan. 6, police said.
She is facing a murder charge, along with three attempted murder charges, according to police.
“She’s only 18,” Mines said of the accused shooter. “How did someone under 21 even enter this bar?”
Shots fired weeks before fatal shooting
At the news conference announcing the lawsuit, Mines pointed to a history of 911 calls to the bar.
Of those calls, Mines pointed specifically to a call for shots fired on Jan. 2, weeks before Tyars was fatally shot.
“It’s our position that this bar had notice of how violent it is … but they perhaps did not take the proper measures that they should have,” Mines said.
Machista’s owner told McClatchy News they had only owned the business for two years, adding that the “claims being made about the history of my bar are false.”
“If the previous bar owners had a bad history I was not aware,” the owner said.
Mines said the bar hired “armed guards” after the fatal shooting on Jan. 20. However, given the bar’s history, Mines said such protections should have already been in place.
“If there had been an armed guard on the day of this shooting that could have potentially saved a life and saved other people from getting shot,” Mines said.
The bar’s owner, however, said there were was a guard the night of the shooting ”checking for IDs, performing pat downs for men (which cannot be done for women) and looking through purses.”
Tyars “did not deserve to lay in a bar in the cold of night in excruciating pain until he succumbed to his injuries,” the lawsuit says, adding that the bar’s negligence led to Tyars death.
The lawsuit is seeking compensation for Tyars’ children, who are named as plaintiffs.
The family is also seeking punitive damages, according to the lawsuit.
‘Family’s broken’
“It changed my life completely,” Rosas said of the shooting.
Rosas said nothing can replace Tyars, with whom she was in a relationship with for more than 17 years.
The couple shared two children together, ages 8 months and 10 years.
“It was already hard enough … for us to raise our kids and now without a father, I feel lost and hurt,” Rosas said. “My family’s broken and will never be the same.”
San Pedro is about a 25-mile drive south from downtown Los Angeles.
Man died after using kratom sold at smoke shop, attorneys say. Family suing for $10M
8-year-old died after flying from school slide 7 feet above ‘frozen’ ground, Utah suit says
Teen died from fentanyl in school bathroom as mom begged staff to find her, CA suit says
