After a two-day trial, a Schuylkill County jury on Wednesday awarded $3,900 in damages to the mother of a teenager who died in a June 2005 shooting in Schuylkill Haven.
The jury of seven women and five men deliberated 1 1/2 hours before deciding four people — Andrew L. Riegel, Raymond Callaghan, Joan Callaghan and Dale R. Gangaway — bore responsibility for the June 7, 2005, death of Richard E. Watkins.
Jurors ruled Gangaway was 50 percent responsible, Riegel and Raymond Callaghan each were 20 percent responsible, and Joan Callaghan was 10 percent responsible. Several other defendants had been removed from the lawsuit before the verdict, including Sturm Ruger & Co. Inc., Southport, Connecticut, the maker of the gun.
Andrea Watkins, Richard Watkins’ mother and the administratrix of his estate, will receive the money.
Richard Watkins died when Riegel shot him with a .357-caliber Ruger Magnum revolver in a townhouse at 334 S. Garfield Ave. Raymond Callaghan handed the gun, which was owned by Gangaway, to Riegel after getting it from an unlocked room where Joan Callaghan and Gangaway slept.
In his closing argument, Richard B. Bateman Jr., Media, Andrea Watkins’ lawyer, said that while Riegel might not have shot Richard Watkins intentionally, he still must be held responsible because he acted maliciously, carelessly and recklessly.
“I don’t think he intended to shoot Ricky,” Bateman said. “When you take a weapon ... and you point it and pull the trigger, it’s no accident.”
He also noted that the gun could not be fired unless someone actually pulled the trigger.
However, Riegel was not the only one responsible, Bateman said.
“Andy got that gun right from the hands of Ray Callaghan,” he said. “(Ray Callaghan) saw the bullet in there. How can you give a loaded gun to someone and not tell them it’s loaded?”
Bateman also said Joan Callaghan should have locked either the gun or the door to the room in which it was kept, and Gangaway, who did not appear for the trial, was responsible for bringing the gun into the house.
“Ricky Watkins is not with us anymore. He could have made it big. We don’t know,” Bateman said. “It shouldn’t have happened. Hold the defendants responsible for this.”
Judge Cyrus Palmer Dolbin presided over the trial.