An Army Ranger killed her after a night of drinking. Should 2 Tacoma businesses be liable?

The family of a security guard beaten to death by an Army Ranger in downtown Tacoma has sued two establishments where the victim’s killer had drinks beforehand, alleging that the businesses over-served him alcohol.

Denise Smith, 41, who had only recently started working at the Frank Russell Building, was attacked for up to 10 minutes on July 18, 2021, by Patrick Byrne, The News Tribune previously reported. Byrne later pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

During his sentencing hearing in May and in an earlier interview with detectives, Byrne, 26 at the time of the deadly assault, claimed not to remember any details from that night. His assigned counsel, David Katayama, noted in court records that Byrne had been knocked unconscious during a fight at a bar and that two doctors independently concluded that a blow to the head had caused a brain bleed in an area that controlled morality and judgment.

Smith’s father and four siblings filed a lawsuit in Pierce County Superior Court on July 18 that alleged that The Forum and The Office — adjacent bar/restaurants on Pacific Avenue — continued to serve Byrne drinks that night when he was obviously intoxicated.

“This is a classic example of a person being over-served,” attorney Brett Purtzer, who is representing the Smith family, said in an interview. “You have to be mindful of serving people when you are in the entertainment industry, and they clearly were not.”

Multiple messages left with representatives of The Forum and The Office seeking comment for this story were not returned.

Byrne, who was stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, left The Office following a physical altercation and headed toward the Frank Russell Building on A Street, according to the lawsuit. There, he started to beat Smith after she attempted to prevent him from entering the building, The News Tribune previously reported.

Byrne dragged Smith by her hair, repeatedly punched her and used her keys to stab her in the face in an apparent effort to gouge out her eyes, according to court records. He then choked her until she went limp and continued to choke her for an additional minute or two.

After the assault, Byrne either jumped or fell onto a concrete floor from a ledge roughly 14 feet above street level, according to charging papers filed days after the killing. The papers noted that it was likely the jump or fall that had caused Byrne’s brain injury.

The lawsuit said that Byrne and a group of friends had gone out the night of July 17, 2021, arriving about 9 p.m. at The Forum, where Byrne allegedly had one to three drinks over the course of an hour to 90 minutes. Purtzer told The News Tribune he didn’t yet know whether the number of drinks, as reported by witnesses, was accurate.

The group then left for The Office next door where Byrne stayed until 1 or 1:30 a.m. One friend said Byrne consumed roughly eight mixed drinks and beers at the business and had been acting a little more aggressively than when he was at The Forum, according to the suit. Other witnesses described him as “pretty drunk,” “very drunk,” “definitely intoxicated,” “clearly intoxicated” and “in a mode of blackout,” the suit said.

A receipt from The Office, with a 12:24 a.m. timestamp, indicated that Byrne had bought two Patron, two tequila and three other drinks. The legal complaint noted that some beverages had been purchased by his friends.

“Defendants and their employees owed a duty to others, including Denise Nicole Smith, to avoid foreseeable violent conduct and subsequent harm to its patrons resulting from selling, serving, or furnishing alcohol to obviously intoxicated persons,” the lawsuit said.

During Byrne’s sentencing hearing, Judge Stanley Rumbaugh said that Byrne had needed to understand that it was a choice to get intoxicated to the point of belligerence and being out of control in public. While Rumbaugh acknowledged the legitimacy of statements that suggested Byrne had some lost capacity during the crime, Rumbaugh also said Byrne, by drinking in excess, had chosen to exacerbate problems related to prior head injuries sustained in the military and in car crashes.

The lawsuit, which alleged wrongful death and negligence among other claims, is seeking unspecified damages to be proven at trial, legal fees and other relief deemed appropriate by the court.