INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Court of Appeals has agreed to weigh in on the lawsuit against Simon Property Group and Universal Protection Service over the Greenwood Park Mall mass shooting.
A Marion County judge denied a Motion to Dismiss filed by lawyers for Simon.
Simon's lawyers appealed that decision, and on Aug. 9, the Indiana Court of Appeals agreed to take it up.
This appeal involves the lawsuit filed by 22-year-old Kaya Stewart, who was shot multiple times in the shooting. The shooter also targeted her younger sister, but missed. The Stewart family filed their lawsuit against both companies on Jan. 2, 2024.
According to the lawsuit, the girls' mother, Eumeka Stewart, said she was walking toward the food court to meet the girls when she heard gunshots. She ran from the mall with a crowd of people and pulled her car up near an entrance, but could not reach her daughters by phone.
A first responder later told Stewart her daughter had been shot, but she did not know if the girl was still alive. Stewart eventually heard from her other daughter, who was hiding inside a movie theater. Stewart's son, Samuel Stewart IV, went into the theater to get his sister – who had fainted – and her friend out of the mall.
Both girls survived, but the family alleges Simon should have known the risk of active shooters and had better security. The lawsuit claims the shooter walked from his home through the mall's parking lot past "multiple security patrols and video cameras" before entering the mall. The suit says the gunman was carrying "a long, black backpack consistent with those used to tote rifles and other assault weapons" as he walked through the lot and the mall.
The three people killed in the shooting were Victor Gomez, Pedro Pineda and Rosa Pineda. Their families filed a lawsuit against Simon and Universal Protection on July 10. They are represented by the same lawyers representing the Stewarts.
(NOTE: the video at the top of this story is an interview with Kayla Stewart's father before the appeal.)