Author:
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Date:
February 2, 2026
Congratulations to Sean Hamer, Rachel Smith and their co-counsel Mark Landman, Jerry Cuomo and Gerald Ford of Landman, Corsi, Ballaine & Ford on their successful appeal in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. On December 31, 2025, the court reversed a $44 million judgment against Amtrak in the case of Breayonna Aaron, individually and on behalf of Richie Terrell Aaron, Jr., deceased v. National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak).
The case arose from the shooting death of Richie Aaron, Jr. who was a passenger on an Amtrak train. On January 14, 2022, passenger Marquise Webb and Aaron separately boarded an Amtrak train in Normal, Illinois. Webb and Aaron did not know each other and were not traveling together. When the train stopped at the Lee’s Summit, Missouri Amtrak station, Webb got up and suddenly and unexpectedly shot Aaron. There was no apparent motive for the shooting. After shooting Aaron, Webb exited the train and was later apprehended by law enforcement. Webb pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter and other related charges and was sentenced to a term of imprisonment.
Plaintiffs alleged the shooting was due to the lack of security and the failure to screen for weapons. In addition, the plaintiffs alleged that the Amtrak train crew failed to timely Aaron had been shot and obtain immediate emergency medical care in an effort to save the Aaron’s life. After a two-week trial, the jury awarded $158.8 million, including $150 million in punitive damages. District Judge Stephen Bough reduced the verdict to $44 million. Amtrak appealed and plaintiffs cross-appealed seeking an additur to bring the judgment up to nearly $100 million.
The Eighth Circuit reversed the district court and granted Amtrak a judgment as a matter of law, setting aside the $44 million judgment, and dismissing the case in its entirety.
The Court of Appeals held that there is no duty to protect passengers from unforeseeable criminal acts of third parties. It ruled that to establish such a duty based upon foreseeability, the plaintiff must show evidence of prior violent crimes on the specific premises and train route that were “numerous, similar and recent” sufficient to put Amtrak on notice of the dangers of unprovoked shootings. Finding that there was no such evidence in this case, the Eighth Circuit ruled that the shooting was unforeseeable and rejected the plaintiffs’ duty to warn claim.
With respect to the failure to discover the passenger who was shot and render prompt medical assistance, the Court ruled that there was no “but for” causation that Amtrak’s alleged negligence caused the decedent’s death, as even plaintiffs’ own medical expert did not testify that he would have survived if he received immediate medical treatment. In fact, the expert admitted that the survival rate from the gunshots sustained was at best 14 percent, and, regardless of any different actions by the Amtrak train crew, Aaron’s survival was still statistically unlikely. Therefore, the Court found that plaintiffs could not establish causation, and their claims failed.
The Court concluded:
“[W]e hold the jury did not have a legally sufficient evidentiary basis to find Amtrak liable on any presented theory of negligence. We reverse the district court’s denial of Amtrak’s motion for JMOL and direct the district court to enter judgment for Amtrak.”
You can view a copy of the Eighth Circuit opinion HERE .
