A Miami-Dade County jury has awarded Haitian-American former Florida state senator Daphne Campbell $100 million in a wrongful death lawsuit over the 2021 killing of her son, Jason Campbell.
Jason Campbell was fatally shot while sleeping after Lakoria Washington unlawfully entered the Monte Carlo Condominium complex in Biscayne Gardens. Authorities say Washington had no legal access to the building at the time of the incident.
Following the shooting, Campbell filed a wrongful death suit against the Monte Carlo Condominium Association, the property management company Akam & Associates LLC, and EMS Protective Group, the security contractor for the building.
On Tuesday, the jury found Akam & Associates to be 57% at fault, the Monte Carlo Condominium Association and EMS Protective Group each 18% at fault, and a tenant of the complex 7% at fault, according to a press release from Campbell’s legal team at Morgan & Morgan.
“When a senseless tragedy strikes your life, you feel helpless, alone and completely shattered,” Daphne and her husband Hubert Campbell said in the statement. “Losing our beloved son Jason has caused us unspeakable pain that we would not wish on anyone. This verdict will never bring our son back, but we hope it sends a strong message to all property managers and owners and compels them to provide adequate security before another family suffers like ours has. Thank you to our friends, community, and Morgan & Morgan for supporting us during this nightmare. Please continue to pray for our family, including Jason’s three children who must now grow up without their father.”
Daphne Campbell, born in Cap-Haïtien, Haiti, earned a nursing degree from SOD Nursing School in 1981. She served in the Florida House of Representatives from 2010 to 2016 before being elected to the Florida Senate, where she represented District 38 from 2016 until her 2018 defeat in the Democratic primary. She ran again for Senate District 35 in 2020.
