County Serves City with Cross Complaint Blaming Homeless Policies for Shevawn's Death

By Jorge Casuso

The County of Los Angeles served the city Monday with a cross complaint alleging Santa Monica's homeless policies contributed to the murder of Shevawn Geoghegan in an abandoned county mental health facility.

The cross complaint for damages, which is usually a prelude to a suit, was filed after Shevawn's parents filed a complaint in May against the county for failing to secure the facility at 1525 Euclid Street, where their daughter was strangled to death in the basement on Feb. 24, 1998. The county also filed a cross complaint against the parents and the three suspects on August 16.

"They're trying to pass the buck," said Santa Monica city attorney Marsha Moutrie. "I think it is stunning that the county has chosen to seek indemnification from the victim's parents and the city. I feel quite sure that that attempt will be unavailing."

The cross complaint served Monday afternoon charges that the city "had undertaken to invite, condone, actively support and subsidize transient homeless persons within the City of Santa Monica. The City by these means and otherwise, undertook a duty to care for, supervise and control the conduct of transients and homeless persons within the city."

The cross complaint also claims the city failed to adequately inspect vacant structures, including the Euclid squat where Geoghegan was killed.

In addition, the complaint charged that the city failed "to act or intervene when it knew or in the exerciseof reasonable care should have known that the conduct of transients and homeless persons and other conditions on the subject premises… presented an unreasonable risk of harm to persons such as decedent Shevawn Louis Geoghegan."

On August 9, the county filed a cross complaint against Edward and Eileen Geoghegan alleging the parents were negligent when they failed "to discharge their duty of care in the training, supervision, control and protection" of their daughter.

Shevawn's parents, the cross complaint charged, "knew or should have known of the course of conduct of their minor child, which involved habitual and specific acts which created an unreasonable risk of harm." The parents, the county charged, "had the opportunity and ability to control such conduct" but "failed to exercise reasonable care."

The Geoghegans' attorney, Jonathan Horne, said his clients were "totally hurt" by the complaint.

"They've suffered tremendously, but they do know one thing, and that is that they went as far as parents could go in their power to help nurture Shevawn," Horne said. "They never gave up."