The family of a woman who was killed during an appliance delivery in Boca Raton last summer has dropped their lawsuit against Best Buy and its subcontractors.
The suspect, 21-year-old Jorge Dupre Lachazo, is accused of killing 75-year-old Evelyn Udell on August 19, when he and David Gonzalez delivered a washer and dryer to her home. The pair worked for XM Delivery, which was subcontracted by Best Buy.
The lawsuit named Best Buy, freight carrier J.B. Hunt, and XM Delivery, as well as the XM employees, Dupre Lachazo and Gonzalez, the driver in the delivery, and XM Delivery owner Manuel Chavez. It also named the two workers who sold the appliances at the Best Buy store.
Online court records show that the family filed a notice of voluntary dismissal with prejudice last week, which means they are waiving their rights to file another lawsuit with the same claims.
I’m working on legislation for the upcoming session that will protect Floridians when having furniture or appliances delivered to their homes. You can read more about it here. https://t.co/SQtsDwFyjT #flapol #Sayfie
— Mike Caruso (@RepMikeCaruso) October 29, 2019
Dupre Lachazo is charged with first-degree murder and faces the death penalty. Police say he beat the 75-year-old retired librarian and grandmother, and then set her on fire. She died the next day.
He told police that he heard voices telling him to kill Udell, adding that they belonged to drug dealers who had sexually molested him and threatened his mother.
“I threw my life away at 21 years old,” Dupre Lachazo told the detectives on the day of the attack. “I’m a bad person. I want to die. Use that pistol already. Use it already. Disappear me. Disappear me.”
Soon after the murder, State Republican Rep. Mike Caruso, of Delray Beach, introduced a bill that would require big-box stores such as Best Buy to notify its customers when a delivery has been subcontracted.
The legislation, which failed to pass a subcommittee on March 14, would have also required fingerprint-based “Level 2” background checks for any delivery person who enters a person’s home.