PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A Philadelphia man who was shot and permanently disabled by a teen who fled from a behavioral health facility has been awarded $11 million in damages.
Lawyers for 47-year-old Eric Johnson say staff at the Devereux Foundation facility in Glenmoore didn’t even know the 16-year-old was missing when he shot Johnson during a robbery. The bullet fractured several ribs and remains lodged in Johnson’s spine. He can walk with two canes but generally uses a wheelchair.
Philly.com says (https://bit.ly/2nNWnNR) the award far exceeded the $3.2 million sought by his lawyers for his future medical and lost earnings.
Johnson’s lawyer Dominic Guerrini says the verdict “should be a wake-up call to Devereux.”
Last month, a teenager who fled a different Devereux facility assaulted and robbed a 72-year-old woman, bound her and locked her inside a closet in her suburban Philadelphia home.
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