COLUMBIA, SC - Attorneys for the mother of Julian “JuJu” Keel, the 16-year-old rising senior at W.J. Keenan High School who was shot and killed in June while attending a graduation party at a parking lot venue in June 2024, have filed a lawsuit naming Colonial Life, Unum Group and AntsWay, LLC for gross negligence attorneys say could have prevented Keel’s death.
Keel’s mother, Vonyetta Watson, is represented by former U.S. Attorney Pete Strom and renowned civil rights attorney Bakari Sellers.
According to the lawsuit, the defendant not only provided their venue for a party to attract a large crowd of unsupervised teenagers, but also failed to provide even the basic safety measures including security personnel or screening of any kind.
The complaint alleges Unum and Colonial Life knew that the property where Keel was murdered had become a hotspot for violence yet they continued to rent it for events without implementing any safety precautions. The complaint further alleges that failure not only cost the 16-year-old Keel his life, but continues to put lives at risk across South Carolina and the nation.
“These companies have big names and deep pockets so we know this lawsuit is David vs Goliath,” Sellers said. “But they’re putting our children’s lives at risk again and again. These companies knew the dangers. They knew this was a recipe for disaster and they did it anyway. We can’t let that stand.”
“They let my son die because, according to them, his life wasn’t worth the cost of hiring security,” said Watson. “They put their profits over his life and they won’t stop unless we make them.”
Click here for a copy of the lawsuit.
