Family of woman who died from overdose in 2023 sues Columbia hotel
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The family of a woman who died from a fentanyl overdose in 2023 has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against an extended stay hotel in Columbia.
The lawsuit was filed on Thursday in Boone County by Stacy Thomas, the mother of Brianna Surface. Surface, 21, died from an overdose on Aug. 7, 2023, at Suburban Extended Stay (Birch Hill Suites).
The petition lists Columbia Lodging LLC, its management company J&P Asset Management, the general manager Coretta Williams and Sugar Ray Hibbler.
Hibbler is described as a “frequent guest” at the extended stay. He pleaded guilty to abandoning a corpse in a criminal case related to the incident on June 7, 2024, and was sentenced to four years in prison. He is being held at Tipton Correctional Facility.
The petition accuses Columbia Lodging and J&P Asset Management of premises liability, negligent hiring and negligent retention, while J&P faces an additional count of negligent training. Hibbler is accused of battery and Williams was accused of negligence.
Previous reporting claims Hibbler left Surface dead in a hotle room on Aug. 8, 2023, and didn’t try to get help. The victim was found by hotel staff on Aug. 9, 2023.
The petition filed on Thursday claims Surface did not give consent to take fentanyl and that Hibbler was allowed to go into the hotel despite not being a guest.
The lawsuit makes claims the hotel had poor conditions and was a regular spot for criminal activity, alleging that 1,697 calls to emergency personnel were made there in the three years prior to Surface’s death.
"This was a tragic death that never should have happened. We are committed to finding justice for this young girl’s family. This hotel was a haven for drug trafficking in Columbia and must be held accountable," a Friday statement from the plaintiff’s attorney John Shikles says.
The lawsuit also made claims that Hibbler was known by staff to partake in criminal activity at the location.
“Suburban Extended Stay staff would often point drug dealers and members of the public to the rooms used by Defendant Hibbler to traffic drugs, even going so far as to give unknown persons key cards to access the rooms utilized by Defendant Hibbler,” court documents say. “For years prior to Brianna’s death, Suburban Extend Stay employees frequently permitted Defendant Hibbler to pass through the lobby and bring members of the public to multiple rooms in the Suburban Extended Stay, including the room in which Brianna’s body was discovered.”
