Mcclung v. Delta Square Limited Partnership

937 S.W.2d 891 (1996)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

P's wife, went shopping at Wal-Mart in the Delta Square Shopping Center in Memphis. As she was returning to her parked car around noon, she was abducted at gunpoint and forced into her car by Joseph Harper, a fugitive from Chattanooga. Harper raped her and forced her into the trunk of her car where she suffocated. Her body was found by hunters in a field in Arkansas the day after the abduction. Harper confessed and was convicted of kidnapping, rape, and murder. He committed suicide after being sentenced to life in prison. P sued Ds alleging they were negligent in failing to provide security measures for the parking lot and that their negligence was the proximate cause of her death. The trial court reluctantly granted Ds' motions for summary judgment. The Court of Appeals observed that 'although the Supreme Court may wish to adopt a broader rule of liability for shopping center owners, operators, and merchant tenants, they are constrained to follow the test established in the Cornpropst case. P appealed.