Marcia Dixon tears up talking about how her son Edwin Dixon was shot and killed last year while visiting a friend in Miami Gardens.
“Edwin was in the prime of his life when he was ripped from this earth and us,” Dixon said.
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The shooting happened at the Cedar Grove Apartments on Northwest 207th Street near 17th Avenue.
“Instead of being filled with joy and celebration, I’m speaking here with you about all the memory of my son,” Robin Gore said.
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Gore shares Dixon’s pain. Her son Taborez White died in a separate shooting at the same complex six months later.
Both families filed a negligent security lawsuit against the property, claiming not enough was done to enhance security and protect residents and guests before or after the violence.
“There is a real cost when you allow crime to run rampant on your property. That cost is earth-shattering pain for people like my husband and I,” Dixon said.
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“Under Florida law, owners and managers of Cedar Grove had a duty to provide adequate security for reasonably foreseeable criminal activity,” said Joshua Padron, family attorney at The Haggard Law Firm.
NBC6 reached out to Cedar Grove by email and phone Wednesday for comment on the lawsuits but have not yet received a response.
Attorneys for the families shared a clip of a deposition taken with the property manager at Cedar Grove, where she was asked about security.
“Between the January 2023 shooting and July 2023 shooting, did you hire, increase the hours of the security guards that work on the property?” an attorney asked.
“No,” the property manager responded in the video.
There are two security cameras and some hourly security guards on the property, but the families argue in their lawsuits more is needed.
A third shooting video in yet another incident on Dec. 31, 2023 has filed a third negligent security lawsuit. He survived the shooting but doesn’t wish to be identified.
