PHILADELPHIA – The mother of a teenager shot and killed outside a bar in the Feltonville section of Philadelphia has initiated civil action against the establishment, its owners and the individual alleged to have committed the murder.
Arnalda Yesenia Payero de Acosta (administratrix for the Estate of Angel Manuel Castellanos Payero) of Philadelphia filed suit in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas on April 20 against Emergency Café Lounge and Michell Franco Vazquez of Philadelphia, Tang Van Le & Steny T. Le of Cheltenham and Nino Brito (a.k.a. “Aneuri Brito”), an inmate at the Graterford State Correctional Institution in Graterford.
Payero was 17 when he was killed at the Emergency Café Lounge. The lawsuit says he was served alcohol while there.
“Decedent and his friends, after having been furnished alcoholic beverages and hookah, intended to exit the defendants’ premises. In the process of exiting defendants’ premises, decedent was confronted by defendant Aneuri Brito a/k/a Nino Brito, who was also a patron of defendant Emergency Café Lounge that evening," the lawsuit says.
"Shortly following the confrontation between defendant Brito and decedent, which began at the entrance of defendants’ premises, defendant Brito shot and killed plaintiff’s decedent.”
The suit alleges Brito was a member of the Trinitario gang, “an illicit, multi-national organization that is known for drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, assault, murder, kidnapping and robbery, among other criminal activities," and that the Emergency Café Lounge was both aware of Brito’s gang affiliation and allowed him and his associates to be regular patrons of the establishment regardless.
Furthermore, the lawsuit claims that the Emergency Café Lounge was negligent in not providing adequate security, not checking Brito for weapons before allowing him entry and violating the Dram Shop Act by continuing to serve Brito alcoholic beverages, despite his exhibiting clear signs of intoxication.
For nine total counts of negligence, wrongful death, survival, and dram shop violations, the plaintiff is seeking damages, jointly and/or severally, in a sum in excess of $50,000, plus costs, delay damages, punitive damages, and all other damages to be determined at time of trial.
The plaintiff is represented by Alexander J. Ginsburg of Peter Bowers, P.C., in Philadelphia.
The defendants are represented by M. Scott Gemberling of Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin, also in Philadelphia.
Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas case 180403201
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nickpennrecord@gmail.com