Lawsuit also names online dealer and shooter’s mother as defendants
NORTH BEND, Ore. — The family of Kirsten Englund is filing a lawsuit against World Pawn Exchange for transferring multiple firearms to a straw purchaser, Diane Boyce, which were then used by her mentally ill son, 30-year old Jeffrey Boyce. Mr. Boyce used the weapons to murder Kirsten Englund and carjack and kidnap another victim during a crime spree stretching from Oregon to California. The suit also seeks to hold Diane Boyce and J&G Sales, the company which originally sold the guns online, accountable.
The complaint alleges that J&G Sales shipped firearms to World Pawn Exchange, which provided the firearms to Diane Boyce despite numerous indications that she was acting as a straw purchaser. The suit was filed in the Multnomah County Circuit Court by Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, PLLC, the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence’s Legal Action Project, and the D’Amore Law Group, P.C.
Comments from co-counsel for the Englund family are below:
Brady Center Legal Action Project Director Jon Lowy said: “Most gun dealers care deeply about their responsibility to use reasonable care to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people, but we need to hold those accountable who choose to profit off of gun sales that they should know are headed for criminal hands, and could lead to dangerous and tragic shootings like Kirsten Englund’s senseless murder.”
Thomas D’Amore, another lawyer for the family, said: “While it is too late for Kirsten Englund’s family to be spared the tragic consequences of irresponsible gun selling, they are bringing this lawsuit to hold irresponsible gun sellers accountable and to encourage all dealers to exercise their duties as licensed firearms dealers responsibly. We hope that justice will be served for the family and friends of Ms. Englund, and that other families will be spared the tragic loss they have suffered.”
Ms. Englund, a retired Certified Public Accountant and longtime resident of the Castro Valley in California was a loving mother to two sons, and caring sister to her six siblings. It was during a drive from her home in California to visit her son in Oregon that Kirsten was killed after stopping her car at the same spot as Jeffrey Boyce.
The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence is dedicated to reducing gun injuries and deaths in America by stemming the causes of gun violence. Through its Legal Action Project, the Brady Center works in the courts to reform dangerous and reckless gun industry practices that give criminals and dangerous people access to guns. For 25 years, the Legal Action Project has brought lawsuits across the country against irresponsible gun companies on behalf of victims of gun violence, and has won numerous victories, including court decisions and settlements in Indiana, Kansas, New York, Ohio, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Counsel for Vivian Englund, Andrew Wiegardt and Nicholas Wiegardt are Linda Singer, Anthony Juzaitis, Casey Preston and Raymond Sarola of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, PLLC; Jonathan E. Lowy and Alla Lefkowitz of the Brady Center’s Legal Action Project in Washington, D.C.; and Thomas D’Amore and Nicholas Kahl of D’Amore Law Group, P.C. in Lake Oswego, Oregon.
##
The mission of the Brady organization and its Million Mom March is to create a safer America by cutting gun deaths in half by 2025. For more insight on gun violence prevention, follow us on Facebook and Twitter @BradyBuzz.
About Us: The Brady Campaign and Center, united with the Million Mom March, is a national network of over 90 grassroots chapter affiliates mobilized to prevent gun violence at the community level. The network has played a vital role in expanding Brady background checks in the six states that have passed legislation since the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut and produced the largest national protest of gun violence in U.S. history – The Million Mom March, Mother’s Day 2000.
