The family of an 18-year-old who was shot to death outside a BP gas station in Oak Park in June sued the owners of that gas station Tuesday in Cook County Circuit Court.
Jailyn Logan Bledoe was robbed and shot to death on June 22, 2022, at the BP gas station at 100 Chicago Avenue in the west suburb. She had just weeks before graduated from Oak Park-River Forest High School.
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On Tuesday, the teen’s mother, LaDonna Logan Bryant, sued Hargobind, Inc., which owns and operates that BP station. The lawsuit lists numerous acts of violent crimes at that gas station over the past several years and complains that the owner “took no security measures, such as hiring security, placing visible deterrents, increasing its exterior lighting or adjusting their hours of operations.”
Neither Bryant nor her attorney could be immediately reached for comment.
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Bryant is seeking unspecified damages, both for wrongful death and for pain and suffering, according to the lawsuit, of which Pioneer Press obtained a copy. In addition, the lawsuit seeks payment of Bledsoe’s funeral and burial expenses.
Daljit Singh, the president of Hargobind, Inc., could not be immediately reached for comment.
Bledsoe’s death became a flashpoint in the debate on whether service stations in Oak Park should be permitted to operate all night. The BP where the shooting took place, as well as other gas stations and convenience stores, had operated 24 hours in the village.
But in September, the Village Board passed a law barring gas stations from operating between midnight and 5 a.m. That action sparked a lawsuit against the village by the owners of six of Oak Park’s eight all-night gas stations, who alleged that the law would put them out of business.
A Cook County Circuit judge subsequently issued a temporary restraining order preventing the new law from taking effect. That order was later removed and the village ordinance was allowed to take effect. The village expanded the ordinance to include not only gas stations but also convenience stores.
Bob Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.
