Baker, Estate of Najee Ali vs. Wake Forest University, et al
In the early morning hours of January 20, 2018, Najee Ali Baker, a student and football player at Winston-Salem State University was gunned down and bled to death on the campus of Wake Forest University after attending a large party hosted at “The Barn”, an event venue owned and operated by Wake Forest, and located on the Wake Forest campus. Our lawsuit alleged that WFU administrators were negligent and had lax security for the party at The Barn.
A confidential settlement was reached with the Pi Omicron chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, a defendant in the lawsuit, who hosted the party.
District Judge Catherine Eagles dismissed the case on the grounds that a gunman’s presence was not an obvious enough risk to prove negligence on the part of any defendants.
We appealed the decision to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.
– United States District Court, Middle District of North Carolina, Case No. 1:19-cv-000477-CCE-LPA