Lawsuit slams Lakewood complex serving homeless where infant was allegedly hurt by convicted felon

The operator and management company of a Lakewood apartment complex where an infant was injured in a late March shooting are accused of failing to screen the alleged gunman — a neighbor with a lengthy criminal record — and act on warnings about him from other tenants.

Earnest Lee Hamilton, 41, allegedly fired at least 22 rifle shots into his neighbor’s apartment on March 24, authorities said. Hamilton has pleaded not guilty to first- and fourth-degree assault and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, court records show.

The infant boy was struck by bullet fragments while inside a baby swing, according to the charging document.

A lawsuit filed on behalf of the boy May 5 in Pierce County Superior Court by law firm Mickelsen Dalton LLC alleges that the two stakeholders in the apartment complex knew or should have known that Hamilton was dangerous and ignored reports of his troubling behavior.

Living Access Support Alliance (LASA), a homeless service nonprofit that operates Prairie Oaks, where the shooting occurred, and Spinnaker Property Management are named as defendants in the filing.

“Gun violence is an ever-increasing threat to our community’s safety and stability, as we have seen by the record number of mass shootings this year in our country,” LASA executive director Jason Scales said in a statement Wednesday. “We at LASA are devastated that the residents of Prairie Oaks were victims of gun violence. Our thoughts are particularly with the young child and his family as they have been personally impacted by these events.”

In an email Wednesday, Spinnaker declined to comment.

“Please stop reaching out,” maintenance coordinator Leandra Scott wrote.

Failed to screen?

The lawsuit alleges that Hamilton had resided for more than two years at the mixed-use housing development for vulnerable families at 8956 Gravelly Lake Drive, but should have been barred due to screening rules governing the property that prohibit entry to anyone with a prior felony conviction within a year of their application.

Hamilton’s criminal history includes a 2021 arrest in Texas for allegedly being a felon in possession of a firearm and out-of-state convictions for robbery, child cruelty and possession between 2000 and 2016, according to a pre-trial services screening associated with charges stemming from the shooting.

Hamilton has “numerous,” undated arrests for violent crimes, including serious bodily injury, false imprisonment and a child cruelty case that appeared to have been resolved as a misdemeanor, the charging document shows.

In March, LASA lead case manager Betty Beer told The News Tribune, “I don’t know how he passed the screening,” and that it was the Pierce County Housing Authority, not LASA, that performed it.

The housing authority’s executive director, Jim Stretz, confirmed to The News Tribune at the time that the agency conducts the criminal background check required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for applicants seeking a housing voucher, which Hamilton had been granted. Any felony conviction in the past year would result in a denial, he had said. Hamilton’s last conviction was in 2016, according to his pre-trial services screening.

Attorney Brian Mickelsen, who’s representing the plaintiff in the lawsuit, said in a phone interview this week that his firm, Mickelsen Dalton LLC, had also filed a tort claim notice with the housing authority, a legal maneuver which can precede a lawsuit and could see the housing authority eventually added as a defendant in the case.

Mickelsen said that the firm was still researching Hamilton’s criminal history and regardless of unresolved questions about the background check, no actions were taken to address his alleged problematic behavior while a tenant.

“At the very least, you knew of a specific danger, Earnest Hamilton, and you continued to let him live there and I don’t get that,” he said.

An alleged troubled history

While residing at Prairie Oaks, Hamilton purportedly committed acts of violence against other tenants, threatened people with a gun, carried an assault rifle on the grounds and caused disturbances, according to the lawsuit.

The filing claims that LASA and Spinnaker were informed of his behavior by other tenants, “had witnessed Hamilton’s actions and were aware of prior instances of domestic violence” by Hamilton against his girlfriend. The defendants never called police, inquired on their own about his activities or brought in security, the complaint said.

“You have to do something about it,” Mickelsen said. “None of that was communicated and that’s what’s truly sad about this situation. It’s a 3-month-old child whose life is at risk.”

When police arrived on scene, they found the infant bleeding from three areas on the right side of his head as he was held by a babysitter, authorities said. The boy appeared to have been hit with bullet fragments and suffered non-life-threatening injuries, according to Hamilton’s charging document.

He has fragments in his head that currently cannot be surgically removed and will severely affect his development and quality of life, the lawsuit said.

In an interview with detectives following the shooting, Hamilton said that he had heard neighbors on both sides of his apartment “cocking guns” and he had believed that the cartel was after him, according to the charging document. An apartment complex staff member described Hamilton to authorities as “very paranoid” and recalled that he had been seen roughly a year earlier walking around the building with what appeared to be a rifle concealed in a pillow case.

In a news release following the shooting, LASA said Hamilton had lived “peacefully” at Prairie Oaks for two years prior to the shooting and that the boy was expected to make a full recovery.

“In thirty years of providing services to scores of families, we have never experienced a shooting and we hope to never experience it again,” then-LASA executive director Janne Hutchins had said in a statement. “We look at this as an unfortunate event in our community and hope it doesn’t detract from the need for all types of affordable and supportive housing in our area.”

The plaintiff’s attorneys took issue with the public statement, specifically its references to the infant’s long-term health and Hamilton’s tenant record. The lawsuit also claimed that the apartment complex has a troubled history, including fights, domestic violence, shots fired and drug and gang activity.

“Defendants, despite their statements and attempts to shield themselves from blame, had every opportunity to take action to prevent the tragic events described herein,” the lawsuit reads. “Yet they did nothing and failed in their duties to (the infant) and the tenants who trusted Defendants to create a safe place for them to live.”

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and attorney fees.

In his statement Tuesday, Scales said that LASA would continue to provide services to those who are experiencing or have experienced homelessness.

“Treating everyone with respect and dignity, whether you have a place to stay or not, is core to our values and our work,” he said. “Housing is a human right, and we will work hard to make sure that we house as many of our neighbors as we can.”