Dollar General settles one wrongful death suit in racist shooting case

A settlement in the Kings Road Dollar General shooting case has narrowed, but not ended, the fight over whether the company protected workers and shoppers in a store where employees had repeatedly asked for security. One Jacksonville man whose brother was slain in the racist attack settled his portion of the wrongful death case, while a second case remains headed toward trial.

The lawsuit stems from the Aug. 26, 2023 massacre at the Dollar General in Jacksonville, Florida, where Ryan Christopher Palmeter, then 21, killed three Black people in an 11-minute attack before taking his own life. The victims were Angela Michelle Carr, 52, Jerrald De'Shaun Gallion, 29, and Anolt Joseph “AJ” Laguerre Jr., 19, who worked as a clerk at the store. Police said Palmeter wore a tactical vest and carried a Glock handgun and an AR-15-style weapon marked with a swastika.

Families filed wrongful death claims in Duval County Circuit Court in December 2023 against Dollar General, related subsidiaries, the security contractor, the landlord and Palmeter’s parents. They alleged negligent security and failure to protect customers and employees at a store they said sat in a high-crime area without adequate protection. Attorneys for the families have said workers had repeatedly asked for security before the shooting, and that Palmeter had been stopped by security guards at two other locations before reaching the Dollar General.

The settlement reported this month covered only one relative’s share of the broader litigation. The case for the other family remains on track for trial. Attorney Adam Finkel said in August 2025 that the estates of AJ Laguerre and Jerrald Gallion were still pursuing the case and that the families wanted not only compensation but changes that would help prevent another tragedy. Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump said the lawsuit was meant to “speak truth to power.”

The case has become a test of what real workplace protection looks like at discount stores that often operate with thin staffing and heavy foot traffic. For Dollar General workers, the central question is not whether the company says safety matters, but whether stores in vulnerable neighborhoods get the guards, training and emergency response support employees need before violence happens.

The shooting has continued to reverberate in Jacksonville, where a memorial at the Kings Road site was vandalized in April 2026 and later restored. The families’ legal fight, now partly resolved and partly moving toward trial, has kept attention on whether a retailer can claim it is committed to safety while workers are left to absorb the risk.