Lowe’s Added as Defendant in Freddy Nelson Jr. Lawsuit

Family of shooting victim seeks $150 million judgment for his wrongful death

Earlier this week, Multnomah Judge Leslie Bottomly permitted the family of shooting victim Freddy Nelson Jr. to file an amended complaint in their wrongful death suit, adding the national retailer Lowe’s Home Centers as an additional defendant, and increasing sixfold the amount sought in damages.

Judge Bottomly rejected the original defendants’ arguments, including that they would be prejudiced by the amended claims that “would substantially alter the case” filed over 20 months ago.

Former Cornerstone security guard Logan Gimbel, who was convicted in May of second-degree murder and other charges — and sentenced to life — hung his objections to the amendments on his plans to appeal the criminal verdict. His attorneys claimed that “until that appeal is complete, Plaintiffs cannot establish intentional and reckless behavior, or conscious indifference” that would support an award of punitive damages.

It was due to the still-unsubstantiated claims of danger made by TMT Development president and CEO Vanessa Sturgeon that led to the hiring of Cornerstone to patrol the Delta Park shopping center; and it was the apparently dramatically conflicting instructions that TMT gave to Cornerstone that directly led to the confrontation that ended Nelson’s life on May 29, 2021.

Attorneys for the Nelson family filed their amended complaint Wednesday.