Widow sues Louisville restaurant where husband was shot and killed in front of family
After losing her husband two days before Christmas, a Bullitt County woman is suing the owner of the Preston Highway restaurant where he was shot to death last year.
Shawna Cross filed the lawsuit Friday in Jefferson Circuit Court against the Roosters restaurant on Preston Highway and owner, alleging restaurant personnel acted negligently and that the Dec. 23 shooting that killed her husband, Bradley Cross, and another man was "reasonably foreseeable."
The owner of the restaurant, Robert Gauthier, declined to comment on the lawsuit Wednesday morning when contacted by The Courier Journal.
Karson Reitz, 21, was charged with two counts of murder in the immediate aftermath of the December incident, which killed Cross, 51, and 48-year-old Michael Miller. Court records and Reitz's police report said a fight broke out between Miller and Reitz's father, when the younger Reitz stepped in with a firearm.
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Cross, who was at the restaurant with his wife and 16-year-old daughter, was shot during the conflict. Miller died at the restaurant while Cross was taken to University of Louisville Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
The suit accuses Roosters of failing to provide adequate security at the location and claims employees served alcoholic drinks to patrons they should have known were already intoxicated.
Employees acted with "such malice, outrageous conduct, gross negligence, and/or reckless disregard for the lives and safety of others," the suit alleges.
Bradley and Shawna Cross were married for 25 years and had two children, the 16-year-old and a 24-year-old, the suit states.
Cross is seeking punitive damages after she and her daughter witnessed the death of Bradley, causing pain, suffering, mental anguish and inconvenience, the suit states. She is also seeking the coverage of medical and funeral expenses, along with the lost future wages of Bradley Cross.
Reitz, who's facing two murder charges along with four counts of first-degree wanton endangerment, has his next court appearance in the criminal case set for June 20.
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Contact reporter Krista Johnson at kjohnson3@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Roosters shooting Louisville, KY: Owner sued, accused of negligence
