Neither a dead man’s girlfriend nor his parents have a valid liability claim against the state based on a state trooper’s statements that the woman had nothing to fear from the man’s soon-to-be murderer, a judge has ruled.

Court of Claims Judge Gina Lopez-Summa ruled in Panebianco v. State of New York, 2015-045-033, that the assurances from the trooper—a mutual friend of the girlfriend and the killer—did not create a special duty on the state’s behalf.