Hahnemann told to pay murdered lot attendant's family

A Philadelphia jury has ruled that Hahnemann University Hospital must pay $5.5 million to the family of an 18-year-old man murdered in 2006 while working a late-night shift in the hospital's parking lot.

William Palmer, the son of two Philadelphia police officers, was shot inside the lot's booth on May 30, 2006, 12 nights after another lot attendant was robbed at gunpoint at the same booth in the 1400 block of Race Street.

The jury, after viewing a surveillance video of the shooting, found that after the first robbery, Hahnemann did not implement sufficient security measures to protect Palmer. Six weeks after his death, the hospital spent $100,000 to automate the parking garage. Yesterday, a spokesman for the hospital said it had not decided whether to appeal the verdict.

"The trial proved that, had Hahnemann done what they did in July of 2006 back in May of 2006, William Palmer would be a sophomore at Cheyney University instead of having lost his life," said Thomas R. Kline, the Palmer family's lawyer.

After he was shot in the chest, Palmer stumbled out of the booth and managed to get inside the hospital for treatment. He was pronounced dead about an hour later.

The shooter, Len Ellis, a former Hahnemann employee who was also involved in the May 18 robbery, was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty in the slaying.