A Cook County, Ill. judge dismissed a lawsuit filed against the parents of a man who targeted minorities in a shooting rampage last summer, killing two people.
The lawsuit had sought to find Kenneth and Beverly Smith liable for the actions of their son, Benjamin, when he went on the shooting spree in July 1999 across two states, targeting Jews, African-Americans, and Asian Americans. Eleven people were injured and two people died, including former Northwestern University men’s basketball coach Ricky Byrdsong. Smith killed himself in downstate Illinois as police closed in on him.
