PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla.-- The family of a Boca Raton man murdered by a suspect who went on a shooting spree in Palm Beach County last year is suing the city of West Palm Beach.
Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office deputies ended up killing the suspect when he drove on I-95 the wrong way, but before that he went on a shooting spree, one of the victim's families say it could have been prevented.
The lawsuit filed by Edvin Milkevic's family says that the 911 dispatcher from West Palm Beach police who spoke with the suspect after he had shot one person, knew he was armed and heard him say he was involved in a shooting, yet she let him hang up the phone without getting his location. In the hours that followed, he would kill two others including Milkevic.
Elzibeta Milkevic believes that even though Hugo Selva pulled the trigger and killed her brother on I-95 last year, the West Palm Beach Police Department is responsible for his death.
"If they would do the job that they are supposed to do, he would be alive," said Elzibeta Milkevic, Edvin's sister.
She is referring to the confession Selva reportedly made after police say he shot a man outside the Dutchman Motorlodge in West Palm Beach. The apparent 911 call reveals Selva told the dispatcher he did it and still had a gun. He agreed to come to the police station and the 911 call ended, but he never showed up.
"He wanted to be arrested, he wanted to be helped and instead, they put him off like you would a caller calling about a lost cat," said Attorney Gary Cohen, with Grossman, Roth, Yaffa, Cohen law firm.
Officers say Selva later went on a shooting spree, shooting another man in Boynton Beach, killing 29 year old Edvin Milkevic on I-95 in Boca Raton and later killing his own girlfriend.
"We died the day he died. We just feel like they forgot to bury us. My parents will never recover, I will never recover, the only thing we can do now is seek some justice," said Milkevic.
The city will not comment on the lawsuit because it is pending.
