Family files wrongful death lawsuit over beating outside Steele's Dive
May 10—TUPELO — The family of a man beaten to death outside a west Tupelo restaurant in mid-April has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against both the suspected attacker and the business.
Booneville attorney Casey Lott filed the lawsuit last month in Lee County Circuit Court on behalf of Madonna Steele, mother of victim K.C. Cooper. The lawsuit, which asks for a jury trial, names Timothy Turner, Steele's Dive and up to 20 John Does as defendants.
According to Tupelo police, Turner waited for Cooper outside of the West Main Street restaurant and bar in the early morning hours of April 16.
Restaurant security cameras reportedly captured footage of Cooper walking toward the parking lot around 1:30 a.m., followed by Turner knocking him to the ground and punching him repeatedly in the face. At one point, police claim Turner got in his car and drove away, but later returned and assaulted Cooper's unconscious body even more.
Cooper was carried to the North Mississippi Medical Center emergency room in critical condition and later transferred to the Region One Medical Center in Memphis, Tennessee. He died later that same night.
The lawsuit argues that Steele's Dive and its security staff knew or should have known there was bad blood between Turner and Cooper and did not do enough to protect Cooper.
"Steele's Dive had a legal duty to exercise reasonable care for the safety of its (customers)," the lawsuit reads. It says the restaurant staff and security personnel failed to protect Cooper from the assault and once the attack started, failed to stop it.
"Steele's Dive had a duty to (Cooper) to hire security guards who were well-trained and other wise competent to protect the decedent from any potential danger," the lawsuit continues. "Steele's Dive failed or refused to properly hire, screen, train and or supervise those members of its security team."
The lawsuit seeks unspecified actual and compensatory damages, including pain and suffering, funeral and burial expenses, lost future earnings and loss of companionship. If a jury decides that the defendants' actions were "grossly negligent, wanton, willful and reckless," the family could also be entitled to punitive damages.
Mississippi does not limit what juries can award for economic damages, including medical, funeral and/or burial expenses and lost future earnings. The state does limit noneconomic damages — pain, suffering and loss of companionship — to $1 million. Juries are not informed of this limit before they begin deliberations. If they award more than $1 million, the judge signs an order reducing the amount.
In order to receive punitive damages, Lott will have to prove "by clear and convincing evidence" that the defendant (either the business or an individual) acted with "actual malice, gross negligence which evidences a willful, wanton or reckless disregard for the safety of others" according to the Mississippi Code.
The same state law also limits the amount of punitive damages that can be awarded. The defendants in this lawsuit would likely fall in the category of having a net worth of less than $50 million, so punitive damages would be capped at 2% of their net worth.
This lawsuit only presents the claim of Cooper's mother at this point. His father, Kirk Cooper, has retained a different lawyer. Lott said the father could ask to join this wrongful death lawsuit. If he tried to press forward with a separate wrongful death lawsuit, by statute, the court would order the lawsuits to be combined. Since the mother's suit was filed first, it would be the case of record, and Lott would be the lead attorney.
Even though the criminal investigation is still ongoing, it will not hamper the family moving forward with the civil lawsuit.
"We will not have to wait for the criminal side to be completed before we can move forward," Lott said, adding that the criminal investigation may, however, "present some hindrances."
Turner was arrested by Tupelo police about 17 hours after the assault. He was originally charged with aggravated assault, but the charge was upgraded following Cooper's death.
Turner was formally charged with first degree murder two days later on April 18 and has been held without bond in the Lee County Jail ever since. He will most likely remain in jail until after the next Lee County Grand Jury meets in July to consider the evidence against him. If indicted on the criminal side, his attorney could petition circuit court to consider setting a bond, which would allow him to be free until the trial.
