ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – The father of a young girl who was raped and killed at the Palmetto at Lakeside in Orange County two years ago is now suing the apartment complex under the Florida Wrongful Death Act.
Rose Dieujuste, 13, was found July 4, 2024, inside a utility closet on the complex’s property after she was raped, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
Dieujuste later died from her injuries.
“Rose was on her way to visit another friend in the building in that same complex,” Sheriff John Mina said at a news conference at the time. “She had been stabbed, and she was barely alive.”
Jerry Dorisme was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, sexual battery, and kidnapping. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.
Dieujuste’s father names the apartment complex’s management company in the lawsuit, accusing the defendants of “failing to provide adequate security” for the property’s residents and guests.
The lawsuit states that despite the fact that Dorisme was not a resident, employee, or guest, “he had been walking with a knife through the property...without being stopped or questioned by Defendants or employees of Defendants.”
“On the date of this murder, Defendant by and through its agents and employees breached its duty to exercise reasonable care for the safety and protection of its invitees, visitors and residents,” the lawsuit asserts.
The lawsuit cites crime statistics from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, claiming that over the course of four years, there were more than 2,418 crimes reported within a one-mile area of Palmetto at Lakeside’s address.
Those crimes, the lawsuit states, included aggravated assaults, aggravated battery, residential burglary, sexual battery, and homicides.
“Many of the above-listed crimes took place directly on the property located at 4444 S. Rio Grande Ave., Orlando, FL 32839,” the lawsuit states.
In 2023, the Orange County Nuisance Abatement Board declared the property a “public nuisance” due to numerous safety violations, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges that management was ordered to hire off-duty deputies as security for the property, but that in May 2024, management stopped paying the deputies.
“In June of 2024, as a result of non-payment, off-duty deputies no longer worked as security for the property,” the lawsuit states.
News 6 reached out to management of the complex, but a response was not returned at the time of this story’s publication.
Last month, authorities investigated an apparent murder-suicide at the same property, after they said a man shot and killed his two toddlers before turning the gun on himself.
[WATCH: Vigil held in Orlando for 2 toddlers killed in shooting]