The father of Kareem Hunter is suing the city of Marmet after his son was killed inside a Marmet apartment two years ago.
Anthony Hunter, who is administrator of his son's estate, claims in the complaint that the negligence of a Marmet police officer resulted in his son's death.
Kareem Hunter, 28, was beaten to death in a Marmet apartment, bound with duct tape and buried in a shallow grave near Beckley. He was reported missing Sept. 23, 2013, and his body was found almost two months later.
The lawsuit, filed in Kanawha Circuit Court on Sept. 22, states that while Kareem Hunter was being attacked, an unknown person called 911. When the officer arrived at the scene, the complaint states, the officer never entered the residence to determine whether anyone inside required assistance. Charleston attorney Michael Clifford is representing Anthony Hunter.
Miguel Quinones, of Charleston, and Deveron Patterson, of Beckley, were charged with murder in early 2014 in the slaying of Hunter. Patterson was sentenced to life in prison with the chance of parole after admitting to the murder charge. Quinones is awaiting trial.
Kelsey Legg was originally charged with murder, but pleaded guilty to helping conceal a dead body and being an accessory after the fact to murder. She was sentenced to six to eight years in prison. Police say Hunter died in her apartment.
Before their son's body was found, Linda and Anthony Hunter, of Hampton, Virginia, told the Gazette-Mail that they believed the Marmet police officer who was at the scene could have done more investigating after a disturbance was reported. The officer told the newspaper he didn't see anything suspicious, however.
The night Hunter was killed, a neighbor of the apartment building where Legg lives called Metro 911 at 8:50 p.m. to report a disturbance, according to an affidavit signed by police to obtain a search warrant.
Legg's brother, who lived in a different apartment in the building, apparently believed his sister was in danger and went to the neighbor's house asking to use her phone, the affidavit states.
After trying to call his sister's cellphone and getting no response, the neighbor called 911 and told dispatchers she could hear "yelling and screaming" coming from the apartment building, Kanawha sheriff's deputies wrote.
Marmet police officer Karl Vangilder told the Gazette-Mail in an interview two years ago that he was the officer who responded to the call. He said when he arrived at the apartment building on 83rd Street, he didn't see or hear any signs of foul play. The lawsuit does not identify Vangilder.
Vangilder previously said he got out of his car, spoke with a couple walking on the sidewalk in front of the apartment building and then walked around the apartment building several times.
"I didn't see or hear anything," Vangilder previously said.
The Hunters have said that the woman who made the 911 call told them the officer didn't get out of his car.
Linda Hunter said she was told that when the police officer arrived at Legg's apartment building, "A young man walking out of the building walked up to his car and said to him, 'Everything is all right, me and my girlfriend were arguing, but I'm leaving now.'"
When the officer started to drive away from the apartment complex, the woman who called 911 ran after him and told him, "No, no, no, you need to check the apartment out," according to Linda Hunter.
Anthony Hunter is suing for funeral expenses, sorrow, mental anguish and, among other things, the services, protection, care and assistance he will no longer receive from his son.
Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazette.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.