A PROPERTY management company in Liantang Subdistrict, Luohu District, was ordered to pay 425,330.5 yuan (US$69,726) for negligence to the child of two murder victims, who were killed on their property by a business partner.

    The city’s legal aid center acted for the 2-year-old child, who was orphaned in the 2009 homicide in a housing estate in Liantang, and won the lawsuit.

    On July 19, 2009, the husband, Xiang Xiaoming, and his wife, Dai Zhenwei, were killed. Dai’s mother also lost consciousness and the nanny, surnamed Huang, was stabbed during the attack. The couple’s 2-year-old baby survived, as he was locked inside a bedroom. The murderer, Chen, was arrested. Chen was Xiang’s business partner and was taking revenge over a business dispute.

    Huang had asked for help twice — in the parking lot and at a badminton court — after she was injured in the early morning, but the property management company, Shenzhen Minglei Property Management Co., didn’t respond in a timely manner.

    Xiang’s family brought the company to court in Luohu for negligence because the company had no security guards patrolling the area and no surveillance system, which, they argued, gave criminals the opportunity to commit crimes unchecked.

    The legal aid center demanded 1.96 million yuan in compensation for the child.

    At the first trial in Luohu, the child lost the lawsuit, with the court saying it would have been difficult for the management company to prevent the crime, which was orchestrated by Chen. The court said the company should bear civil compensation for Chen’s crime though.

    The family appealed to Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court in April last year and the court had ordered the Luohu court to hear the case again.

    (Han Ximin)