NYCHA Not Responsible for Murder of Tenant's Daughter During Gang Fight

Tenant, on behalf of her daughter's estate, sued landlord NYCHA after her daughter was murdered in tenant's building. Tenant claimed that NYCHA's building security was negligent. Tenant's son was involved in fighting one night between two rival gangs. The rival gang members then chased tenant's daughter into the building and killed her. Tenant argued that a building door lock wasn't working. NYCHA asked the lower court to dismiss the case. Several people had testified at the criminal trial that tenant's daughter was targeted for a vengeance killing during the course of that evening's gang fight. The lower court ruled for NYCHA, finding that the daughter was the target of a preplanned attack and, even if NYCHA had notice of a malfunctioning door lock, the gang action was a superseding intervening cause of the daughter's death.

Tenant appealed and lost. The appeals court agreed with NYCHA that the rival gang members were sufficiently intent on vengeance that any precautions taken by NYCHA would have been futile. 

Estate of Murphy v. NYCHA: 2021 NY Slip Op 02246, NYLJ 4/15/21, p. 18, col. 6 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; 4/13/21; Kapnick, JP, Webber, Mazzarelli, Oing, JJ)