Appellate court upholds $1.5 million judgment against Mercy Joplin for 2015 parking lot shooting

The Southern District Court of Appeals has upheld a $1.5 million judgment against Mercy Joplin in a civil suit stemming from a 2015 shooting in the hospital parking lot.

A Newton County jury found in favor of Steven Harner, 66, Monett, following a five-day trial in July 2021, determining that Mercy was 75 percent responsible for Harner's injuries.

According to a Joplin Police Department news release, Harner found Kaylea Nicole Liska, Webb City, 21 at the time, in his vehicle in the parking lot and confronted her. "She shot Harner and fled the scene." The police found Liska and arrested her the following morning.

Liska entered an Alford plea in 2017 and was sentenced to 20 years for assault and three years for armed criminal action to be served concurrently.

The history of the court proceedings was included in the court's opinion:

Harner sued Mercy in negligence relating to injuries Harner sustained in December 2015 when he was shot by Kaylea Liska (“Liska”) in Mercy’s parking lot while visiting his daughter at Mercy’s Emergency Department. 

Mercy moved for summary judgment, arguing it owed no duty to protect Harner from the criminal acts of a third party. The trial court denied summary judgment. 

The case was tried to a jury over five days beginning July 19, 2021. Mercy moved for directed verdict at the close of Harner’s case and at the close of all of the evidence, and the trial court denied both motions. 

On July 23, 2021, the jury returned a verdict for Harner and awarded damages of $2,000,000, which the trial court reduced to $1,500,000 based on the jury assessing Harner 25% of the fault.