Widow Files Suit Against Convenience Store Over Husband's Death During Robbery

The family of a 38-year-old electrician from Galveston, Texas who died of the personal injuries he sustained during an armed robbery of a convenience store in February 2007 has filed suit against the business.

Mexican native Macrina Arteaga, the widow of Carlos Baeza, filed a wrongful death suit on January 29 in Galveston County District Court on behalf of the couple’s four children naming Luke’s Supermarket & Deli as the defendant.

Arteaga alleges that Luke’s failed to provide adequate security that could have averted the incident on February 1, 2007.

On the day of the incident, Baeza went to Luke’s to purchase a burrito and black coffee for breakfast when a pair of unidentified men in black hooded sweatshirts entered. The complaint says they then held the clerk at gunpoint with an AK-47.

According to court papers, Baeza was unaware of the events occurring within his vicinity. As they were leaving, he opened the door to the store and was shot to death by one or both of the robbers. He was allegedly shot three times and died at the scene.

According to an article in The Galveston County Daily News on February 2, 2007, the homicide was recorded on a black and white video camera.

According to a store employee cited by the article, the incident was the second time in eight years that the business had been robbed and it was the first time shots had been fired.

The suit alleges negligence on the part of Luke’s for failure to provide adequate security and allowing the robbers to access the premises.

Arteaga claims a loss of consortium, mental anguish, and funeral and burial expenses. In addition to those damages, she seeks compensation for the losses of the couple’s offspring.