AIKEN - Attorneys for the owner of a now-defunct Augusta delivery company maintain the firm had no control over the actions of an employee accused in the death of an Aiken teen and should not be held responsible.
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Attorneys for C. Dwayne Moore, the former owner of Moore Express Inc., responded Tuesday to a suit filed last month by the father of 16-year-old Jessica Carpenter.
Charlie P. Carpenter contends that Moore Express and the company for which it subcontracted, Airborne Express, were negligent in allowing homicide suspect Robert F. Atkins to deliver packages for them in a company van and uniform.
Jessica was killed in her Aiken home in August 2000. Mr. Atkins was charged in the slaying more than two years later after police said they made a DNA match in the case.
In the lawsuit, attorneys for Mr. Carpenter contend the two companies were negligent in not checking the background of Mr. Atkins, a convicted felon.
In Mr. Moore's response, filed Tuesday in Aiken County Common Pleas Court, attorneys wrote that on the day Jessica died, Mr. Atkins was "acting outside of the scope of his employment and was not acting under (the) defendant's authority or control.
"(Mr. Moore) has no control over or responsibility for such actions," according to Tuesday's filing.
The response also denies Mr. Carpenter's claim that "On August 4, 2000, Atkins was employed by Moore as a delivery driver for Airborne."
Mr. Moore's attorneys ask that the suit be dismissed or tried before a jury.
Airborne Express has yet to file a response. Mr. Atkins, who is awaiting a criminal trial in the case, was served with the suit July 31 at the Aiken County Detention Center, according to court documents.
Reach Stephen Gurr at (803) 648-1395.
