CASPER — The father of a 14-year-old boy who was stabbed and killed at the Eastridge Mall on April 7, 2024, believes his son would still be alive if security at the mall and one of its stores had not been so sloppy and ineffective.
That’s what Robert Maher Sr. claims in a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday against the mall’s operator and Target, citing a lack of security in the store where the murder weapon was stolen, as well as mall corridors and property.
Casper attorney Ryan Semerad filed the lawsuit, as did Jackson attorneys Alex Freeburg and Rachel Berkness. It names Ohio-based Kohan Retail Investment Group LLC and Eastridge Mall Realty Holding as defendants in the lawsuit.
The mall was acquired by Kohan Retail Investment Group in 2021.
“Kohan Retail Investment Group advertises itself as turning aging malls into ‘a place more than shopping,'” according to the claim. “At the time it purchased the mall, it had become a hot spot for crime in the area.”
Knowing this, none of the mall’s hallway security cameras were activated on the day two other teenagers fought with Bobby Maher, one holding him down and the other stabbing him twice, according to the lawsuit.
It Was A Choice
The lawsuit also claims that Kohan Retail uses in-house security and has faced significant “backlash” in U.S. communities where it has investments for “failing to pay taxes, failing to pay utility bills, failing to remedy code violations, and failing to respond to concerned tenants.”
According to the lawsuit, several stores that were once located inside the Eastridge Mall have since closed, and the mall now occupies less than half of its retail space.
Target also “prioritizes” its shoplifting prevention efforts on high-value items “without dedicating sufficient care to determining whether items could result in harm to others.”
“It is unclear whether the security cameras were ever operational or whether Kohan had allowed them to fall into disrepair,” according to the complaint. “In effect, these defendants chose to leave a cavernous open space totally unmonitored.”
The lawsuit claims that the only operational cameras were inside local retailers.
Both of the teens responsible for Bobby Maher’s death have been convicted.
Jarreth Plunkett, the now-16-year-old Casper boy who stabbed Maher near a mall entrance, was sentenced to life in prison on Friday.
Dominque Harris, Plunkett’s co-defendant, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit second-degree murder in an agreement with prosecutors and is awaiting sentence.
Claims against Target
According to the lawsuit, on April 7, 2024, “several young boys” entered Target, sought out a knife display, attempted to pull knives out of a secured block, and then removed knives from a wall display with the packaging and concealed them in their clothing.
They then went to the bathroom to remove the knives from the packaging without triggering the store’s electronic shoplifting detection system.
They left the store armed, according to the lawsuit.
“At no time did Target security stop the boys or contact local law enforcement to alert them that dangerous weapons had been stolen from their premises,” according to the suit.
The group of boys grew larger and smaller over the next few hours, and the boys “threatened girls” in the food court without security intervention, according to the lawsuit.
Furthermore, no uniformed security responded when two boys donned ski masks inside the mall after Bobby Maher arrived and “tried to draw Bobby to the exit door.”
The lawsuit claims that the mall did not maintain or enforce policies that prohibited unaccompanied minors from “loitering inside the mall” or any of its stores, including Target, on the day the teen was killed.
“No employee of defendant Kohan or Eastridge monitored the safety of the premises properly,” the accusation states. “Defendant Kohan’s and defendant Eastridge’s unreasonable actions and omissions caused the death of Robert Maher, Jr.”
Target violated its duty of “reasonable care” by failing to prevent the knives it sold from being taken “in secret,” according to the lawsuit.
Two minors, unaccompanied by adults, were able to remove the knives from the shelves, and “defendant Target failed to notify law enforcement” or mall security about the items taken, according to the lawsuit.
The document concludes that Target’s failure to act contributed to Maher’s death.
“But for defendant Target’s failure to notify mall security or any other mall employee that the boys had stolen two knives from its store, the boys would not have been able to stab and kill Bobby,” according to the lawsuit.
All of the defendants failed to act “in the ordinary and expected manner of a reasonable and prudent entity.”
‘Willful’ Conduct
Because of the defendants’ “negligent and/or reckless, willful, wanton conduct,” the Maher family has suffered the loss of Bobby Maher’s companionship, care, love and more, the lawsuit states.
It seeks damages that the “jury deems fair and just at trial.”
The lawsuit was filed late on Tuesday.
Messages left at both the Kohan Retail Investment Group headquarters in New York and Target’s offices in Minnesota were not returned by the deadline.
In addition to the lawsuit, the Maher family requests that anyone with information about mall security in the months preceding Bobby’s death contact them.
