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VICTIM'S FAMILY FILES SUIT Canton Repository,
January 10, 2005CANTON ... The family of a popular school-teacher shot to death during a January robbery is suing the teen-age suspects and a California gun manufacturer.
The suit, filed Tuesday by Nazha Ataya's family, accuses Lorcin Engineering of producing and recklessly marketing inexpensive guns likely to be used by juveniles and criminals.
Mrs. Ataya, 52, was shot Jan. 27 as she worked inside her husband's liquor store.
Three Timken High School students later were arrested and charged with her murder. Police describe the shooting as a "robbery gone awry."
The weapon used, according to the lawsuit filed in Stark County Common Pleas Court, is a .38-caliber, semiautomatic handgun made by Lorcin.
Federal statistics show Lorcin's L-380 model is more likely to he used in crimes than any other
brand, said attorney Allen Schulman Jr.The company sells guns for as low as $49 and touts its brand as the "world's most affordable" handgun, he said.
Schulman said his lawsuit is not about gun control but about the obligations of gun owners and manufacturers.
"This is strictly mass production for mass profit," Schulman said. "Lorcin has completely disregarded the consequences of their actions in providing a ready source of firearms to the criminal underground."
Lorcin owner Jim Waldorf disagrees and says his company will vigorously fight the lawsuit.
The overwhelming majority of the company's handguns are used by law-abiding owners, he said.
Studies show less than 1 percent of the company's handguns are traced to crimes, he said.Schulman filed a similar lawsuit in 1997 accusing another manufacturer of designing guns that were dangerous to children and those unfamiliar with weapons; It stemmed from the accidental shooting in 1995 that killed a 13-year-old girl.
The manufacturer later was dropped from the action.
"The problem with that case was the gun was manufactured in the "60s," which was before that technology to make guns safer existed, Schulman said. "This gun was made in the ë90s."
The lawsuit also names robbery suspects Lamont Dave, 16, Stephon Cook, 17, and their families.
The pair allegedly held up Phil's Wine & Liquor store on 12th Street NW Dave is accused of firing the fatal shot.Dave's 18-year-old cousin, Marion, also has been charged and is named in the lawsuit.
The three are among a group of teens charged with a ring of store robberies.
Mrs. Ataya was a sixth-grade teacher at Hartford Middle School.
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