In January this year, two women were sentenced to prison after the murder of a 25-year-old man at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. The court sentenced Erika Covington and Arionna Taylor, following a guilty plea agreement, to a minimum of 10 years and maximum of 25 years in prison.
Now, relatives of the victim, Bryan Altamirano-Solano, have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Caesars Entertainment, claiming, among other issues, that the venue failed to provide adequate security measures.
Lawsuit Claims Negligence, Wrongful Death
As announced by the local media outlet, KLAS, the family of the deceased young man turned to court, filing a lawsuit in the Clark County District Court on Wednesday. The victim’s relatives alleged wrongful death and negligence against Caesars, claiming that those actions ultimately resulted in the death of Altamirano-Solano.
Notably, the lawsuit claims Caesars Palace failed to restore the capacity of its security guards after it was reduced due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, per the lawsuit, the operator allegedly was negligent in preventing criminal activities, including prior violent crimes it was aware of and non-violent unlawful activities such as illegal sex work.
The victim’s relatives also accused Caesars of negligence in hiring and training security personnel, all factors that allegedly contributed to Altamirano-Solano’s murder on the premises.
The Legal Claim Alleges Additional Failures
Concerningly, the legal claim alleges that Caesars failed to create a record of illegal sex workers who trespassed its venue. This prevented the operator from establishing a successful monitoring system that could track and extract such individuals from the premises. In addition, the insufficient records about trespassing sex workers also prevented the Las Vegas hotel and casino from taking meaningful actions against cases of repeat offenses.
According to the lawsuit, the Las Vegas Metro Police Department notified Strip hotel and casinos, including Caesars, that there was an increase in crimes tied to illegal sex workers. Although the operator was notified, the lawsuit alleges that it failed to implement additional safeguards, or if it has, they have been insufficient.
Another concern of the legal claim focuses on the alleged failure by the operator to prevent the access of underage individuals to the casino floor. The two women, who were sentenced to prison for the murder of the young man, were 20 years old at the time, and the lawsuit questions how they were permitted to access the venue and loiter.
