WASHINGTON PARK, IL — Five days after Frank Dover was shot during a December visit to Dollies Playhouse, Guadelupe Morales experienced a pain no mother wants to suffer. Although the gunman has not been apprehended, the grieving mother has decided that someone must pay – and Dollies Playhouse is that someone.According to police records, Dover was walking from the parking lot into the club when an assailant approached him from behind, shooting him in the back of the head. He was taken to a local hospital, where he died from his injuries on Christmas Day.
Morales contends that the strip club has often been the location of violent criminal behavior and that the murder of her son is only one in a series of offenses that the club management and staff should have been better prepared to handle.
A complaint filed in the St. Clair County Circuit Court on April 21st alleges that prior to Dover’s death, it was known that patrons of Dollies Playhouse frequently carried firearms and were frequently involved with violent crimes. Therefore, her suit contends, employees should have had better security procedures in place and should have made sure that customers were aware of their risk of attack.
Further, the complaint states that the club should have intervened and stopped the assault before Dover was injured. Instead, the club failed to provide adequate supervision of the property, failed to adequately train security personnel and failed to keep the incident from taking place.
Attorney Kenneth A. Leeds is representing Morales, who seeks $100,000 plus pre-judgment interest and costs for loss of companionship, society, love and affection from her son, as well as compensation for medical costs, as well as the great pain and emotional distress suffered by Dover prior to his death.
