Florida Injury Lawyer Blawg
Man faces felony charges after police say he is responsible for firing bullets in “celebratory gunfire” incident that killed a woman in Kissimmee Florida on New Year’s Day.
Carlos Manuel Tejada, 44, was charged over the weekend with manslaughter by culpable negligence in the incident that killed 56-year-old Carmen Rosa Neira Ochoa.
Tejada is accused of firing shots into the air around 12 a.m. on Jan. 1 while he was lakeside, directly across from Ochoa’s home where she was sitting on her screened-in back porch with her two daughters. Ochoa was taken to the hospital where she later died from her injuries.
Tejada, who has no criminal background, was arrested at his home and cooperated with the investigation, which saw at least 11 guns recovered by police, according to reporting from the Miami Herald.
Leesfield & Partners
On average there are about 500 to 600 deaths each year in the U.S. from accidental shootings, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control. These incidents also account for an average of 1,500 to 2,000 injuries annually. These unintentional incidents can happen in domestic settings, during recreational activities or when children get ahold of a family member’s firearm that has not been properly locked away. In those instances, around 300 to 400 children are injured each year in the United States, according to the CDC.
In Florida, legal gun ownership is permitted for those 21 years and older, who are U.S. citizens or legal residents, and who do not have felony convictions or other disqualifying factors such as certain mental health conditions or domestic violence offenses. Firearms must be securely stored to prevent access by children under 16 years old. Penalties for a gun owner who is negligent in their firearm storage, allowing a child to gain access and injure themselves or others, can vary depending on the circumstances.
In decades of personal injury practice in Florida, securing multiple record-setting verdicts and settlements, Leesfield & Partners has handled numerous cases in which clients were injured as a result of gun violence. Whether it be due to a manufacturer error with the firearm or because of negligent security at the hands of a property owner or management company, Leesfield & Partners attorneys have routinely stepped in to advocate for the best possible outcome on behalf of their clients.
Previous Gun Cases
Leesfield & Partners has represented numerous clients injured in gun violence cases and grieving family members.
In a police-involved shooting where a Leesfield & Partners’ client’s loved one was killed, the firm secured a $900,000 recovery for the family.
In a negligent security shooting case handled by the firm, Leesfield & Partners attorneys secured a $675,000 recovery.
Leesfield & Partners secured $500,000 in a negligent shooting case.
The firm previously represented a client left as a paraplegic after a shooting at an unguarded ATM. Attorneys secured $3 million in that case.
Since 2014, the firm has represented multiple victims in drop fire cases, an incident involving the firing of a loaded firearm when it falls to the floor. Drop fire cases occur upon impact, without the weapon’s trigger being pulled. This design defect has resulted in the deaths of many, and catastrophic injury to countless others. Previously, Leesfield & Partners has been able to prove that a common design defect resulting in injury to the firm’s clients was related to the weapon’s firing pin, a spring-loaded, metal rod situated in the slide of the pistol.
In 2023, Leesfield & Partners attorneys concluded that they were seeing an increase in drop fire cases as the result of defects with the pistols being produced.
Previously, the firm represented the family of a child injured as the result of the gun manufacturer’s failure to identify and fix their defective product. Attorneys with the firm secured $3 million in that case.
In another product liability case against a gun manufacturer, Leesfield & Partners attorneys secured $2.1 million for their injured client.
The firm secured $1.5 million in a similar case against a gun manufacturer.
The firm also secured a seven-figure settlement for a family that was forever changed in a shooting incident. The case was previously turned down by a prominent personal injury law firm before Leesfield & Partners took on the case. Our firm’s attorneys were able to prove that the armed assailant should never have been allowed to live on the premises from the start.
In the last two decades, Leesfield & Partners has secured more than $100 million in settlements and recoveries for injured clients and their grieving families.
