September 20th 2023.
On September 20th, 2022, Bessie Durham's family filed a lawsuit against Belk department store in Colombia, South Carolina. Durham, a 63-year-old Black woman, was discovered dead in the store's bathroom four days after she was reported missing.
The family, represented by lawyers Chris Hart and Justin Bamberg, held a press conference on the one-year anniversary of Durham's body being found. Attorney Hart raised questions as to why Durham was left in the locked bathroom for so long. He noted that no one bothered to check on her while her cleaning cart remained outside.
Belk has been held responsible for not making sure its employees performed a check on Durham. The suit does not specify the dollar amount the family is seeking, but it does state that Durham's body had already started to go through the early stages of decomposition when discovered.
Attorney Bamberg described the tragedy of the family not being able to say goodbye to their loved one in the proper way. Durham's daughter, Sylvia Smith, spoke to CBS News 19 and stated that they are looking for accountability for what happened to her mother.
Durham's other daughter, Sheniki Jeter, told CBS News 19 about the condition of her mother's body at the funeral. She explained that they could not even view the body and were denied the opportunity to say goodbye.
The Lexington County Coroner's Office conducted an autopsy and found that Durham died of natural causes. The lawsuit alleges that the store was negligent in not thinking to check on Durham, as well as in having a policy which required the bathroom door to be locked.
The family is hoping that this lawsuit will bring justice to Durham and ensure that what happened to her will never happen to anyone else.
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