$31M verdict after a man was shot trying to stop a car theft at a mobile home park
Three months after the verdict, the park's owner filed for bankruptcy and listed a possible claim against its own insurer for failing to settle.
Amount awarded by the jury $31M As reported. The source gives a rounded figure, not exact dollars. State Court of Clayton County · July 2023 · Clayton County, Georgia
A Clayton County, Georgia, jury found a Jonesboro mobile home park liable for the death of a man who was shot while trying to stop a car theft on the property in 2018. The jury awarded $31 million to the man’s daughter in late July 2023.
The park’s owner filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in federal court in Atlanta on October 25, 2023. Its sworn schedules listed the judgment in this case at $24,825,613.84. The sources we reviewed do not explain the difference between that figure and the $31 million verdict, so we report the jury’s figure here. In the same filing, the owner listed a possible bad-faith claim against its liability insurer for failing to settle, valued at the same $24.8 million.
Both sides appealed from trial court orders entered in late March and early April 2024. On March 14, 2025, the Court of Appeals of Georgia affirmed in both appeals in an unpublished opinion. It denied the owner’s motion for reconsideration and issued a substitute opinion on March 31, 2025. The Supreme Court of Georgia denied review on August 26, 2025. The owner filed a federal lawsuit against its insurer in March 2026. We have not seen the complaint.
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Not legal advice. Southeast Verdicts reports public court outcomes and news coverage. Parties are anonymized. Amounts are as reported at the time of the verdict or settlement and may have been reduced, appealed or not collected.
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