Dollar General settles 1 lawsuit over racial killings as 2nd nears trial

A family member of victim Anolt “AJ” Laguerre Jr. will seek dismissal of the suit once settlement documents have been finalized.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Jacksonville man whose brother was slain in the racially motivated 2023 Dollar General shooting on Kings Road has settled his part of a wrongful death lawsuit against the retailer, a court record shows.

Quantavious Laguerre, who sued on behalf of Anolt “AJ” Laguerre Jr.’s estate, “resolved this matter amicably” and will seek dismissal of the suit once settlement documents have been finalized, his attorney, Adam Finkel, wrote in a notice filed electronically May 23.

This story continues below.

More in Local

Terms of the settlement were not reported.

The settlement would leave Dollar General still fighting the legal claims of just one of the relatives of three Black people killed in or around the company’s store at 2161 Kings Road, near 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.