ATLANTA — The family of an Albany State University student killed in a mass shooting has been awarded a $66.5 million settlement with the owner of the Buckhead club where it happened.
The shooting occurred on Mother’s Day morning in 2024 at the Elleven 45 Lounge in Buckhead.
“I just really wish I had my sister back,” Tiffany Eason, Creighton’s sister, told Channel 2’s Audrey Washington.
Mari Creighton was a 21-year-old student and star athlete at Albany State who was celebrating at the lounge when the shooting occurred.
She was one of six people shot, and one of two who died.
The accused shooter, Karanji Reese, had no known connection to Creighton. The family’s attorneys argued that the lounge owner was negligent by employing security that allowed a person inside with a loaded gun.
“This woman had 60 more years of life left in her and we have to evaluate damages based on every year of her life,” said attorney Parker Miller with Beasley Allen Law Firm.
A judge ordered the closure of the lounge in 2024, and the property was later purchased by the Atlanta Beltline.
Efforts to reach the lounge owner for comment about the settlement were unsuccessful.
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