A Chicago man, Marques Gaines, was beat unconscious by another black man outside a 7-11. Marques Gaines laid in the street for 2 minutes as other black people strolled right by, without giving a second thought to the unconscious man laying at their feet. A few minutes later, a Chicago cap accidentally ran over Gaines.
Now the stupid and greedy family of Marques Gaines then decides to try and make money off his death, and file a lawsuit against 7-11, saying the store should have had well-trained security that could have prevented the actions that led to Gaines’ death.
That’s such bullshit! The reason why there is high crime in that are is not because of a 7-11. The reason for the high crime is the black population who lives there, who have no regard for human life, and would rather go on their way than stop to help a badly injured person.
The Gaines family should be ashamed that they are using the death of their family member to put money in their pockets – especially when the business they are suing had absolutely nothing to do with Marques Gaines death.
1) 7-11 played no part in the death of Marques Gaines
2) There is a suspect on the lose who beat Marques Gaines within an inch of his life before he was run over.
3) The cab is is the real cause of Marques Gaines’ death.
4) Marques Gaines could have easily been saved by the other cold-hearted black people who stepped over Gaines’ unconscious body in the street could have helped him, but ignored the injured man instead.
The greedy family of Marques Gaines would rather stuff dirty money into their pockets that find the person actually responsible for Marques Gaines death, and we hope the court sees it that way, and throws out their lawsuit.
Surveillance video released Wednesday captures the last moments of a popular hotel cocktail server who was punched and knocked unconscious, landing in a Near North crosswalk. The footage also shows more than a dozen bystanders failing to come to his aid in the nearly two minutes before a cab accidentally drives over him.
Marques Gaines, 32, died at an area hospital after the incident about 4:20 a.m. Feb. 7 outside a 7-Eleven store in the 400 block of North State Street.
At a Thursday morning news conference, Gaines’ family members and their attorneys spoke to reporters about details of a recently filed lawsuit, gathering outside the 7-Eleven where Gaines was fatally injured.
The family of Marques Gaines speaks about his deathMarques Gaines’ family members and their attorneys spoke April 21, 2016, about details of a recently filed lawsuit, outside the 7-Eleven where Gaines was fatally injured. (Armando Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Attorney Chris Hurley said the 7-Eleven’s operator knew the area surrounding the store suffered from high street crime and should have had well-trained security that could have prevented the actions that led to Gaines’ death.
“The simple reason we’re here is that a corporation that keeps its stores open 24 hours a day and invites the public in … that knows that it’s targeted by criminals needs to provide decent, competent, basic security, and that wasn’t done here,” he said.
Hurley also pressed for more police action in finding Gaines’ attacker, who remains at large.
Marques GainesMarques Gaines was killed Feb. 7, 2016, outside a 7-Eleven store in the 400 block of North State Street. (Ryan Cosens)
“There’s a clear photograph of the aggressor and a clear video of him attacking Marques Gaines. He hasn’t been arrested, and we don’t know why,” Hurley added.
Gaines’ cousin Drexina Nelson said she and her mother, Phyllis, watched the video of Gaines for the first time Wednesday evening and were shaken.
“It was gut-wrenching,” Nelson said. “We had heard over the course of these past few three months what happened, but to actually see it with our own eyes was devastating.”
Gaines’ aunt Phyllis Nelson, who had been too upset during the news conference to speak, said afterward that she couldn’t imagine strangers passing by an injured person in her native Georgia.
Audio: 911 call following assault of Marques GainesListen to audio from the 911 call following the Feb. 7, 2016, assault of Marques Gaines outside a Near North Side 7-Eleven store. During the call, Gaines, who lay unconcious on a crosswalk, was run over by a taxicab. (Chicago Tribune)
“I’ve never heard of anything like this where people just walk by a person lying in the street and nobody help,” she said. “I just don’t understand it.”
Attorneys for the family released grainy footage from a Chicago police pod camera that captures Gaines falling to the ground after a heavier man wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt and sweatpants and white sneakers apparently knocked him out with a single right-handed punch. Gaines, who had just bought chips inside the 7-Eleven, could be seen running away from his pursuer before he was struck.
Especially troubling for Gaines’ family was that bystanders didn’t help as he lay in the crosswalk. At least one person believed to be a 7-Eleven employee called 911. Others walked past him without trying to pull him out of the street or block traffic.
Within seconds of the punch, a half-dozen people gathered around Gaines, including two men who appeared to have rifled his pockets. Gaines’ family said his cellphone and debit card were stolen. After a minute, the group and his attacker left the scene and as seconds ticked away, individuals and groups of people walked by Gaines without trying to pull him out of the street.
Who leaves a person in the street for that long? That’s devastating to me — the fact that he could have been saved. He could still be here with us. — Drexina Nelson, cousin of Marques GainesThat no one came to her cousin’s aid or tried moving him to safety on the sidewalk was too much for Drexina Nelson. Nelson and her mother, who raised Gaines after his parents died, live in Georgia.
“We as people, as humans, we should care for one another,” Drexina Nelson said as she sat with her mother and their attorneys at their Loop law offices Wednesday afternoon. “Who leaves a person in the street for that long? That’s devastating to me — the fact that he could have been saved. He could still be here with us.”
Last month, attorneys representing the Nelsons filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court against several entities, including Chicago Taxi and the driver who struck Gaines. But this week, a judge allowed the attorneys to amend the complaint to add 7-Eleven to the lawsuit as a defendant.
The Nelsons’ attorneys also released footage outside the store that captures the confrontation between Gaines and the attacker, who is seen getting into the victim’s face and pointing.
“Marques never would have been laying in the street if he hadn’t been attacked by somebody who had just been in the 7-Eleven,” Hurley said Wednesday. He put blame on a security guard and a store employee who he said stood by and watched but did nothing to get Gaines to safety.
“All they had to do was wave down cars and stand in front of him to keep him safe,” Hurley said. “Or maybe (make) some effort to help him off the pavement. But just to stand there and watch him get run over? Their customer? It’s not acceptable.”
The Nelsons and their attorneys are also hopeful that bringing attention to the case will draw eyewitnesses who could help bring Gaines’ attacker to justice.
“We would love to find the assailant,” Drexina Nelson said. She and her mother believe murder charges should be filed against the attacker.
In addition to 7-Eleven, Chicago Taxi and the driver, Medhi Seyftolooi, the lawsuit also names Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard, the local corporation that owns the State Street 7-Eleven, as a defendant. Seyftolooi and 7-Eleven couldn’t be reached for comment.
Prior to the attack, Gaines spent several hours at a neighboring pub, also called Mother Hubbard’s, dancing and drinking with co-workers. Gaines and his two friends all went their separate ways about 20 minutes before the incident.
Gaines’ cause of death is still pending the police investigation, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
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