Jasmine Lynn was 19 years old. She was a sophomore at Spelman College with a 3.8 GPA. She wanted to take her psychology major and one day open her own practice.
“We got the acceptance, and it was a Christmas gift. We were so excited,” Constance Franklin said. Two months after her daughter was killed, Franklin still talks about her with pride. And now, sorrow. “I don’t know how I’m doing. Some days are good, some days are bad. When I’m here, I feel bad. I feel sick to my stomach.”
Jasmine Lynn’s parents made the trip from Kansas City to Atlanta this week to file a wrongful death lawsuit against Clark Atlanta University.
On September 3, 2009, Jasmine was visiting a friend that lived in a Clark Atlanta University dorm. While walking back towards the Spelman campus, Jasmine passed two groups of young men fighting. Jasmine’s friend yelled, “Gun!” Before she could duck, Jasmine was shot in the chest and died.
“I was on the phone with the hospital and I was about to get on my way to come here because I couldn’t get any information,” Franklin said. “And then, the doctor said, ‘I’m sorry for your loss’. And I said, ‘What loss?’.”
Jasmine’s dad, Clint Lynn is also a plaintiff in the lawsuit. “Three or four weeks after the fact, I read in the paper that the Clark Atlanta University President closed the street, had extra patrols.” “Too late?” a reporter asked. “Too late,” he agreed.
The lawsuit was filed Thursday morning. The suit alleges that: “CAU owed a legal duty to exercise reasonable care to protect its invitees by keeping the premises and approaches safe. Upon information and belief, CAU has had numerous instances within the recent years where AUC students have been victims of assaults, shootings, armed robbery and other violent crimes on CAU premises… the type of violent crime to which Jasmine Lynn was a victim was foreseeable to defendant CAU.”
Rod Edmond, the attorney for Jasmine’s parents, said, “They sent their child off to school with hopes and dreams and she came back in a box.” Edmond said CAU “has been in this position before” and had been sued by other students’ families when they became crime victims.
“We need to save our babies,” Franklin said.
Clark Atlanta University has declined to comment on the lawsuit.