NORFOLK, Va. — A Norfolk woman has filed a $5 million lawsuit against Norfolk's public housing authority, claiming the organization's failure to fix locks at a residence in the Young Terrace community resulted in the murder of her daughter last year.
In the wrongful death lawsuit filed in Norfolk Circuit Court in April, Tawanda Scarbor names three defendants: Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority (NRHA), Young Terrace Tenant Management and the unknown killer, referred to as John Doe.
She accuses NRHA and YTTM of negligence and Doe of battery resulting in the death of 26-year-old Jwanta Scarbor, who was found dead inside her East Olney Road apartment on March 14, 2022, according to the Norfolk Police Department. Investigators have still not named a suspect in the homicide case.
Scarbor's complaint states someone broke into Jwanta's apartment and shot her to death while her 1-year-old son was inside the home. It also states when Jwanta’s 6-year-old daughter returned from a weekend with her father on March 14th, she found her mother’s body on the floor and heard her baby brother screaming upstairs.
Scarbor claims the apartment's front door lock, door knob and window locks had been broken for several months before Jwanta's death, despite multiple complaints and work orders made to community management. She also says Jwanta told them she was unsafe, and nothing was done.
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Her lawsuit argues the defendants "carelessly and negligently failed to provide adequate and effective safety and security measures" and "failed to take appropriate steps to remedy unsafe conditions," which gave Doe the opportunity to access the residence and attack her daughter.
"When you’re coming with this kind of suit, you’re going to get push back. You gotta be ready to deal with those issues and those questions of duty, those questions of what the law supports," said legal analyst Ed Booth.
He said part of the burden for Tawanda’s attorneys will be to show proof that someone knew or should have known that criminal acts were foreseeable at the complex. Part of the suit alleges that since Young Terrance was named one of the four most dangerous places to live in Norfolk, the NRHA should have done more to protect their residents.
"The state of the law in Virginia is that when you occupy that apartment, the landlord is not responsible for every last thing that happens within the apartment," Booth said.
Lawyers for NRHA filed a response to the lawsuit on July 28 that states, under Virginia Common Law and per the lease agreement, the organization "did not have a duty to maintain or repair the door locks, doorknobs, and window locks because all mechanisms were within [Jwanta's] exclusive control." The city has asked that the complaint be dismissed.
"I would absolutely say that response as well as the fact the duties that are created by the Virginia residential landlord tenant act don’t require it is 100% expected in a case like this," Booth said.
In a request for comment, the NRHA told 13News Now they do not comment on pending litigation.
The case was assigned to a judge last week and a date is being set for a pretrial hearing.
If you know or have heard anything about the incident, you are asked to reach out to the Norfolk Police Department or reach out to the area's Crime Line at 1-888-562-5887. You can remain anonymous while giving a tip.