Crime & Safety
Family of Duluth Man Killed By Mistake in 2013 Files Civil Suit Against Shooter
Rodrigo Abad Diaz Ortiz, 22, was shot in a Lilburn driveway after his GPS took him to the wrong address.
The family of a Duluth man who was shot and killed in a Lilburn driveway last year after getting lost has filed a civil suit against the man charged in the shooting.
Rodrigo Abad Diaz Ortiz, 22, died at Gwinnett Medical Center from a bullet wound to the head on Jan. 27, 2013, after he was shot the night before at 537 Hillcrest Road in Lilburn.
The homeowner, Phillip Sailors, 69, later was arrested and charged with murder.
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Diaz's family has said that GPS took him to Sailors' driveway by mistake and that he was shot as he pulled away from the home. Sailors apparently viewed Ortiz as a threat and fired at his car, in which three of his friends also were seated (none of the friends were injured).
The Gwinnett Daily Post reported the family is now suing Sailors, seeking money for medical and funeral bills and for “pain and suffering.” The suit claims Sailors was “negligent in believing he was about to be a victim of a crime,” the family’s attorney Christine A. Koehler told the newspaper, and negligently fired his .22-caliber revolver.
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The medical and funeral bills came to $140,000.
Sailors was released after posting bond. He has been charged with murder in the case, but has not been indicted.
Read the rest of the Post’s story here
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