Greyhound
PITTSBURGH - Following the murderer's guilty plea, the son of a man killed on a bus is now going to civil court to punish Greyhound.
Cozell McQueen, Jr. filed suit on behalf of his father's estate last week in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas, alleging lax security allowed Javon Garrett to carry a knife on board a bus bound for Washington, D.C.
McQueen was travelling from Pittsburgh to D.C. but shortly after setting off was stabbed in the neck by Garrett, who had been harassing other passengers. Garrett pleaded guilty in March to third-degree murder and was sentenced to 10-30 years in prison.
Mental health was a factor in Garrett's plea agreement. But Greyhound has no excuses for letting passengers smuggle weapons onto buses, McQueen's lawsuit says.
Greyhound's terms forbid weapons but Garrett and his bag either weren't searched, or were and nothing was done to remove him from the bus.
"As a common carrier, Defendant Greyhound owes its passengers the highest degree of care to ensure their safety," the lawsuit says.
"Defendant Greyhound knew or should have known that taking precautionary measures to ensure that none of its passengers were armed with or carrying dangerous weapons such as knives was necessary to provide the safe transportation of its customers."
Pittsburgh lawyer Thomas Berret of Hal K. Waldeman & Associates is representing McQueen. He laid out 17 arguments as to how Greyhound let his client's father down, including negligently enforcing its prohibited items policy and failing to stop Garrett from verbally harassing passengers.
Greyhound has faced plenty of litigation in Pennsylvania, with claims stemming from alleged sexual assault, fire, a fatal crash, a dog attack, racism, slip-and-falls and at least one other death not related to a crash.
The company was accused in a Philadelphia case of not providing air conditioning on an August day in 2021, which caused Joseph Bracken to pass out. When his bus arrived and passengers departed, Bracken did not - and the driver did not see him.
He was left on the bus for more than an hour before another driver found him, then he died two days later. His family settled for $85,000.
McQueen's death occurred in July 2023. The suit says Garrett was sitting next to him, and Garrett began shouting at other passengers 15 minutes after the bus departed Pittsburgh.
Garrett then turned on McQueen and stabbed him multiple times in the neck. McQueen managed to leave his seat to alert the driver but ultimately died at Forbes Hospital.
