A Brooklyn widow is bringing a lawsuit against her apartment building's management, alleging negligence after her husband and son were tragically shot and killed by a neighbor, in a case that could re-shape landlord responsibilities regarding tenant safety. Marie Delille's family suffered a devastating loss when Jason Pass, a former neighbor at Flatbush Gardens, escalated a noise dispute into fatal violence in October 2023; Delille has filed a lawsuit seeking $10 million in damages, as reported by Gothamist.
Delille contends the management was well aware of Pass's threats, having reported him multiple times for harassment and received no meaningful action, and even after security personnel allegedly saw Pass preparing his firearm before the attack, intervention failed to materialize, she told Brooklyn News12. Pass, who had history of menacing behavior, fled after the incident but was killed days later by police during a standoff.
Adam Konta, Delille's attorney, asserts the deaths were preventable and underscores the responsibility of landlords to ensure a safe environment for tenants, citing this lawsuit as potentially landmark in altering how property owners address security concerns; with the complex at Flatbush Gardens, which has history of code violations and safety issues, the lawsuit details a prior rally by residents over poor living conditions and security failures, raising the question of how much the tragedy might have been mitigated through swifter and more serious management response.
Amid community concerns over building security, such as those voiced by neighbor Elizabeth Robles, who experienced dismissive responses from building staff, Delille claims Flatbush Gardens employees did not even contact her after the shooting, leaving her and her surviving children to seek refuge and begin rebuilding their lives elsewhere, while she pursues a nursing career, as she told Gothamist; a spokesperson for Clipper Management maintained their commitment to a safe Flatbush Gardens community, but declined comment on the ongoing litigation.
