Oklahoma Mother of Dead Teen Sues Pharmacy

The mother of a teenager killed during an attempted robbery of a south Oklahoma City drug store is suing the store and the pharmacist who shot the boy.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday by Cleta Jennings seeks unspecified damages from 59-year-old Jerome Ersland and the Reliable Discount Pharmacy for the death of 16-year-old Antwun Parker on May 19, 2009.

Parker was first shot in the head as he and another teen tried to rob the pharmacy. The lawsuit says an autopsy found the initial shooting wasn’t fatal and that Parker died when Ersland shot him five more times.

It calls the second shooting “an act of gross negligence and deliberate indifference” that caused Parker’s death.

Ersland is on trial for first-degree murder in the case. He says he shot in self-defense.