The mother and children of a man murdered in Tacoma are suing the state Department of Corrections, claiming it did not do enough to supervise the felon convicted of killing James W. Smith.
Smith would still be alive had corrections officers done a better job keeping tabs on Antwane Goolsby, the plaintiffs contend.
A Pierce County jury Dec. 16 convicted Goolsby of first-degree murder in Smith’s death.
Corrections officers knew Goolsby was violating the conditions of his release from prison after serving time for conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery yet let him remain on the street, the lawsuit states.“DOC characterized Goolsby’s compliance as marginal, he attended no treatment and his behavior in the community was described by DOC as ‘indicative of continued criminal thinking,’” the lawsuit states.
The family seeks undisclosed damages in the lawsuit, which was filed late last month in Pierce County Superior Court. Thaddeus Martin and Chad Arceneaux represent Smith’s mother, Joyce Smith, and his children, Ja’Mari, Janaia and Shalyse Smith.
Corrections spokeswoman Selena Davis said Friday the department had received a copy of the lawsuit and that its lawyers were reviewing it.
Davis offered no other comment.
Smith died Aug. 5, 2009 after being shot in the 4500 block of South Puget Sound Avenue in Tacoma.
Witnesses told police Goolsby was angry with Smith because the victim allegedly said something disrespectful to the mother of Goolsby’s children.
Goolsby, who had a long felony record by that time, reportedly donned a ski mask and confronted Smith on the street, shooting him multiple times.
He then fled to Las Vegas. He later was arrested there and extradited to Tacoma for prosecution.
Goolsby, who represented himself at trial, faces life in prison without the possibility of parole under Washington’s “three strikes you’re” out law when sentenced Jan. 23, said deputy prosecutor Stephen Penner, who helped try the case against Goolsby.
Smith’s family contends in the lawsuit that state corrections officers, in the months leading up to Smith’s killing, had numerous grounds to find Goolsby and an acquaintance who drove him to the shooting scene in violation of the conditions of their prison releases, but the men “were not held accountable.” Rauwn D. Bernard pleaded guilty to rendering criminal assistance in the case.
Goolsby was reported to have been associating with gang members, using marijuana and dealing drugs in early 2009, the lawsuit contends.
“DOC was negligent and/or grossly negligent in its supervision and handing of Goolsby and Bernard,” the lawsuit states.
Adam Lynn: 253-597-8644
adam.lynn@thenewstribune.com
blog.thenewstribune.com/crime
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