Family of Zota victim sues resort owner, security company

The family of the night desk clerk killed nearly a year ago at the Zota Beach Resort on Longboat Key has filed a negligence lawsuit against the resort’s parent company and the security agency it hired.

Matt Morgan, of the Orlando firm Morgan and Morgan, told the media on Thursday in a news conference that Tim Hurley was “the glue that held the family together.”

“The family has decided to fight back against what they believe and what we believe to be a very preventable and foreseeable event,’’ he said.

The suit, which lists Ellen Hyatt Hurley, Hurley's sister, as the plaintiff, was filed Wednesday in the 12th Judicial Circuit. The suit names Victory Security Agency II LLC of  North Palm Beach and Oprock Longboat TRS LLC and Oprock Longboat Fee LLC, doing business as Zota Beach Resort.

The plaintiffs in this case seek more than $15,000 from each defendant, making this a matter to be decided by the 12th Judicial Circuit Court.  

Calls to those two businesses were not immediately returned.

Kevin Carter, then-51, a guard with Victory Security, and Hurley, then-59, the night desk manager at the Zota Beach Resort, were killed Aug. 4 during an early-morning robbery that police say netted $900.

Police arrested Darryl Hanna Jr., 29, of Bradenton, on Aug. 9. He faces two counts of second-degree murder and one count of armed robbery but weeks after his arrest, he was found in his jail cell unresponsive and has remained so for months.

In April, in the same condition, he was judged to be incapable of standing trial. On July 25, court documents show an expert has reconfirmed medical condition to be unchanged, as is his ability to stand trial.

Kristine Geer, Hurley’s niece, said at the news conference that her uncle was the center of their extended family.

“He was my dad in every sense of the word,’’ she said.

Attorney Herbert H. Hoffman II said the basis of the suit against the companies is  due diligence.  The suit claims Victory Security should have known about Hanna’s criminal record before it hired him and his work history at a previous security company from which he was fired in connection with video evidence of him “rummaging through employees belongings,’’ the lawsuit states.

“If you hire a day care worker, you make sure you are not hiring a pedophile,’’ he said.

Hanna worked at Zota as a part time security guard with Victory Security and told his co-workers with not getting more hours, police reports said.