The negligence lawsuit by Leslie Woods, who lost her daughter, Devon Rideout, to a horrific murder in 2018, has been granted clearance to move forward against the federal government on the grounds of failing to implement measures to prevent the killer from buying a gun according to ABC10 News.
In 2018, Devon Rideout, a 24-year-old Navy corpsman, was walking her puppy outside her Oceanside apartment when she was ambushed and shot five times by her neighbor, Eduardo Arriola, who had been previously discharged from the Marine Corps for desertion and was later diagnosed with schizophrenia as told by NBC San Diego.
Leslie Woods claims that her daughter would still be alive today if the federal government had not been negligent, which led to Arriola's ability to purchase a gun legally ABC10 News reports. The lawsuit points fingers at the Defense Department for failing to notify the FBI about Arriola's case, which resulted in him not being listed in the background check database.
The government tried to dismiss the case, arguing that they could not be held responsible for the actions of a third party, such as Arriola, but United States District Judge Jinsook Ohta rejected the request, allowing Woods' case to continue. Woods' attorney, Eugene Iredale, expects the trial to take place in 2024.
This is not the first time the government and the military have been accused of failing to input critical information into the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, which prevents disqualified persons from buying firearms. Similar incidents include the 2017 mass shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas by an Air Force veteran convicted of assault and the 2015 church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina by white supremacist Dylan Roof.
In the pursuit of justice and to prevent further tragedies, Woods and her attorneys are calling for the Department of Justice and Department of Defense to accept responsibility and comply with the law to correct their practices. Meanwhile, local gun safety groups, Moms Demand Action and San Diegans For Gun Violence Prevention, are showing support for Woods and her fight for justice.
The next steps for Woods' case will be an assessment in front of a U.S. magistrate judge, followed by the discovery phase, where evidence is gathered—a process that typically lasts between four and six months. The trial is expected to begin in 2024, as Woods hopes to hold the federal government accountable for the negligence that led to her daughter's tragic death.
