Shot Inside World Kia Of Joliet, Woman, 62, Files Lawsuit

JOLIET, IL — A 62-year-old Morris woman who was shot inside the World Kia of Joliet by another customer on April 6, 2019, has filed a negligence lawsuit against the car dealership at 2525 West Jefferson St. and the Blue Island man who shot her.

Sylvia Mitchell's lawsuit states that "defendant Everett Corbin was carrying a firearm when it discharged, striking plaintiff and then and there causing plaintiff injuries."

A Joliet police sergeant determined that no criminal charges were warranted, the shooting incident reports show. Joliet police classified the shooting as an accidental gun discharge.

Attorney Robert A. Langendorf of Chicago told Joliet Patch on Wednesday that Sylvia Mitchell was a customer in the service room of the Joliet car dealership when Corbin was inside the building with a gun in his pocket, and his gun went off, injuring Mitchell.

A Joliet Fire Department ambulance took Mitchell to AMITA Health Saint Joseph Medical Center where she was treated for her gunshot wound.

"She had a bullet that went in to her lower left leg," Langendorf said. "She's functioning, but her life has been diminished."

The West Jefferson Street auto dealership "failed to enforce their no firearms in the building policy even though they knew or should have known that defendant Everett Corbin was carrying and or handling a firearm on their premises," the lawsuit contends.

World Kia of Joliet "knew or should have known that defendant Everett Corbin had chambered a live round in the firearm" and "saw or should have seen defendant Everett Corbin carrying and or handling the firearm in the waiting area of their premises," court documents state.

Since the shooting, Langendorf said, World Kia of Joliet has maintained that it has no responsibility for the injuries to the Morris woman, even though the shooting happened inside their business at 2525 West Jefferson St.

Patch left a message with employees at World Kia of Joliet seeking their reaction to the lawsuit.