The family of a Texas nursing student who was allegedly stabbed 24 times by her roommate during a fight over their cats is suing the rental property’s management company, alleging negligence in pairing the two to live together.
Chester Lamar Grant, 40, is charged with murder in the death of 23-year-old Elizabeth “Tami” Odunsi of the United Kingdom on April 26 in Houston.
On Monday, Odunsi’s family filed a $65 million negligence lawsuit against For A Place To Live LLC, the property management company that matched her and Grant, as well as SafeRent Solutions, which conducted Grant’s criminal background check. The murder suspect is also named in the lawsuit.
Grant and Odunsi had been living together for several months, but their relationship had deteriorated in the days leading up to her death. Grant had become “more aggressive” toward her, and they disagreed about their cats.
He allegedly “poured a liquid” on Odunsi’s face and slapped her phone out of her grasp. Odunsi called Houston police, but they refused to arrest Grant, according to the lawsuit.
Concerned about her safety, Odunsi contacted For A Place To Live and requested a Zoom meeting with its employees to express her concerns. The meeting was scheduled for 3 p.m. on April 26, but the company cancelled it about two hours before it began, according to the lawsuit.
Odunsi finished her final clinical session the afternoon before graduation and returned home. She wanted to speak with her parents, John and Adenike Odunsi, because she was concerned about what Grant might do when she entered the apartment, according to her lawyers. She walked inside, and Grant confronted her right away.
“They got into a verbal confrontation,” according to the lawsuit. “John and Adenike overheard Elizabeth screaming and crying for help. Then Elizabeth’s phone went dead.
Her parents requested that a family friend who lives in Houston check on their daughter and call the police. Officers entered the apartment and discovered Tami Odunsi “unconscious on the kitchen floor, covered in blood.”
She had been stabbed more than 24 times, according to the lawsuit. Grant attempted suicide but survived and remains in the Harris County Jail.
Troy J. Pradia and Jonathan H. Cox, the family’s lawyers, claim that For A Place To Live “breached its duty” of care by approving Grant’s application and allowing him to enter into a lease with Odunsi.
The lawsuit claimed that it should have informed Odunsi of Grant’s “extensive criminal history,” which included convictions for domestic violence. Odunsi’s complaints about Grant were also ignored by the property management company, which “cancelled a meeting that may have saved her life.”
Cox and Pradia argued that Odunsi faced a “unreasonable risk of harm” due to Grant’s violent tendencies.
The property management company used SafeRent to conduct a criminal background check on Grant. Pradia stated at the press conference announcing the lawsuit that his assistant’s Google search revealed Grant’s prior domestic violence convictions.
“So, it was just that easy for them to find out what happened and what he was doing prior to him moving in with Tami,” Pradia told local NBC affiliate KPRC. “We are here today to seek justice for the family…” I am not sure what I would do if this happened to my daughter.
The Odunsi family flew from the United Kingdom for the press conference.
“She did everything right, but no one listened to my daughter,” Adenike Odunsi explained.
As previously reported by Law&Crime, Odunsi’s family established a GoFundMe account for the woman known on TikTok as Tami Dollars, or TD.
“Tami was a beautiful soul, full of light, ambition, and kindness,” the fundraiser states. “She was only 23 years old. She was a God-fearing young woman whose faith provided her with strength and joy. She had a strong attachment to her church community, where she was actively involved and eager to serve others with humility and grace.
She aspired to become a nurse and wanted to work with children in her new career.
Odunsi was about to graduate from nursing school just a few days before she was murdered, according to her family. Her disappearance was “an unimaginable loss at a moment that should have marked the beginning of a bright and promising future.”
