The family of a Tipton teenager who was shot and killed in 2016 has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against two men they believe were responsible for the death of their son.
Robert and Cynthia Ashbaugh have filed the suit against Travis Clark and Robert Davis Jr., both of California. The suit was filed in Moniteau County Court.
Last week, Clark, 24, was sentenced to seven years in prison after a Laclede County jury found him guilty of charges in the killing of Robert Ashbaugh, 18, who was a student at Calvary Lutheran High School at the time of the shooting.
Clark was found guilty of first-degree involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action. The case was moved to Laclede County on a change of venue.
According to the lawsuit, Davis supplied Clark with a Savage .243 rifle that the Ashbaughs said was the weapon involved in their son’s death.
Clark, the lawsuit alleges, was in possession of the weapon at the apartment in Tipton where he and Robert Ashbaugh were on the night of the shooting. Clark believed the weapon was unloaded, but failed to check it; it was loaded.
The lawsuit alleges Clark pointed the weapon at Ashbaugh, pulled the trigger, accidentally shooting Ashbaugh in the chest. Clark had told authorities he was trying to scare Ashbaugh with the rifle when it went off.
Also stated in the lawsuit, the Ashbaughs claim Clark was incompetent to possess a firearm due to “his propensity for violence, reputation for violence and habitual recklessness.” The Ashbaughs also claim Davis should have known these traits of Clark before allowing him to have access to a weapon.
To back their claim, the lawsuit alleges Clark was disciplined at least twice at his then place of work, Cargill, for making threats of violence involving a gun against a co-worker. The suit also claims Clark was disciplined at school for violent behavior
The Ashbaughs are seeking more than $75,000 in damages.