An Arkansas judge on Thursday dismissed a wrongful death and negligence lawsuit filed by the family of slain Realtor Beverly Carter against Crye-Leike Real Estate, the company the agent had worked for when she was brutally murdered while showing a home to a deranged killer masquerading as a potential homebuyer in 2014.
Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox ruled that Carter’s husband and two sons filed the suit on Sept. 29, 2017 — three days after the statute of limitations had passed, according to a report by Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
In the suit, the family had accused Crye-Leike of failing to provide support for Carter with regard to background checks and preliminary meeting setups for unknown buyers, procedures such as traveling in groups when showing homes to potentially dangerous strangers and encouragement to use GPS to alert authorities, among other complaints.
During court proceedings, the family’s attorney, Bryce Brewer, argued the statute of limitations should be based on the date that Carter’s body was found and pronounced dead, which was Sept. 30, 2014. On the other hand, Crye-Leike’s attorneys said the statute of limitations should be based on the date Carter was kidnapped: Sept. 25, 2014.
Arron Lewis and Crystal Lowery, the couple who posed as buyers and then kidnapped and killed Carter, were both found guilty in separate trials. In 2015, Lowery pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and kidnapping charges and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. A year later, Lewis received a life sentence without parole for capital murder.
Inman reached out to Carter’s son and the founder of the Beverly Carter Foundation, Carl Carter, Jr. for comment. In response, he gave Inman permission to share a Facebook post in which he shared thoughts about his mother, gave thanks to Beverly’s colleagues who supported the family and announced there would be no further legal actions taken.
