The family of 19-year-old Miya Marcano, who went missing from her Florida apartment and was later found dead in a wooded area, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against her apartment complex and the company that operates it.
The lawsuit that was filed earlier this week alleges negligence by companies that own and operate the Arden Villas Luxury Apartments in Orlando, where Miya lived and worked, according to CNN. The lawsuit seeks damages in excess of $30,000, exclusive of interest, costs, and attorneys’ fees.
The lawsuit also alleges battery by Armando Manuel Caballero, a maintenance worker at the Arden Villas apartments and the main suspect in Miya’s death who took his own life after her disappearance, investigators said.
Miya went missing September 24 after failing to board a flight home and her body was found October 2 in a wooded area near an apartment complex where Caballero once lived. Miya’s hands and feet were bound and her mouth covered in tape, according to officials.
Orange County Sheriff John Mina previously said investigators “believe pretty conclusively that Armando Caballero is responsible” for Miya’s death and the lawsuit names Caballero’s estate as a defendant.
Authorities said they believe Caballero, who was found dead September 27, accessed Miya’s apartment without her permission.
“We now know that a maintenance-issued master key fob, which Caballero was known to be in possession of, was used to enter Miya’s apartment Friday afternoon, at about 4:30. This would have been about 30 minutes before she should finish her shift at the apartment complex,” Mina previously said.
The family wants to hold the apartment complex responsible.
“Arden Villas gave Armando Caballero the unfettered access he needed to kill Miya. They need to be held accountable for their negligence,” family attorney Daryl K. Washington said in a news release.
The lawsuit says Miya was uncomfortable because of Caballero’s interest in her and her family feels the apartment didn’t take her concerns seriously.
“Marcano expressed her concerns to employees of the Arden Villas as well as to her parents who were concerned that … the manager of the Arden Villas, was not taking the safety concerns of the employees and tenants, very seriously,” the lawsuit says.
CNN has reached out to The Preiss Company for comment.
According to the filing, the suit demands a trial by jury.
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