Share and Follow
The sibling of Anolt “AJ” Laguerre Jr. plans to request the dismissal of a lawsuit once the settlement paperwork is complete.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Jacksonville resident has reached a settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit with Dollar General, following the racially charged shooting that claimed his brother’s life in 2023 at the Kings Road location, according to court documents.
Quantavious Laguerre, representing the estate of Anolt “AJ” Laguerre Jr., has “amicably resolved” the case and will pursue the dismissal of the lawsuit after the settlement details are finalized, stated his attorney, Adam Finkel, in an electronic notice submitted on May 23.
The specifics of the settlement have not been disclosed.
This agreement narrows Dollar General’s legal battle to the claims of only one remaining family member of the three Black victims who lost their lives in or near the store at 2161 Kings Road, adjacent to Edward Waters University.
The remaining lawsuit, brought by Carrol Gibbs for the estate of her late son, Jerrald Gallion, is scheduled to go to trial in July.
Attorneys were scheduled to make arguments at a May 28 hearing over motions by Dollar General involving the jury pool and its request for a summary judgment saying the company wasn’t liable for the deaths because the killings of three Black people targeted for their race weren’t foreseeable.
AJ Laguerre worked at the store and a court filing by Dollar General said he was working a cash register when he was shot by Ryan Christopher Palmeter, a young white man wearing tactical gear and carrying a handgun and an AR-15 rifle marked with swastikas.
Palmeter had killed a woman, Angela Carr, in the parking lot before entering the store, and fatally shot Gallion, a customer, inside. Palmeter shot and killed himself at the site, having earlier written a racially charged 27-page declaration that reportedly included hundreds of references to racial slurs.
Lawyers for the victims’ relatives had argued Dollar General had liability because its store was “devoid of meaningful security measures,” with no security guard on duty. Their lawsuit said Palmeter had first driven to a different dollar store and then to the Edward Waters campus but was deterred at both places by the presence of security staff, then went to Dollar General to carry out the shootings.
In addition to saying Dollar General wasn’t liable for Palmeter’s actions, the retailer’s lawyers also argued AJ Laguerre’s family should have sought compensation through the state’s worker’s comp system, calling that “the sole remedy” under state law.
A lawsuit by Carr’s daughter, Armisha Payne, was voluntarily dismissed in 2024.
This article was first published by our news partners at the Florida Times-Union.