Family of Minneapolis man fatally stabbed by out-of-state fugitive sues Ohio county, others

The family of a man stabbed to death in his Minneapolis home by an out-of-state fugitive has filed a wrongful-death suit against those whose responsibility was to keep tabs on the alleged killer.

The lawsuit was filed Monday in Summit County (Ohio) Common Pleas Court on behalf of the wife of Ryan Peterson and their parents. Peterson was allegedly killed by 33-year-old Franklin Terrol White of Akron, Ohio, who is charged with using a battering ram to break into Peterson’s home the morning of Aug. 12, 2022.

Police say White encountered Peterson in the living room of the home in the 1800 block of Arthur Street NE., stabbed him and left the knife in his neck.

White was captured the same day by law enforcement in Mauston, Wis., about 200 miles from Minneapolis. He was charged with second-degree murder and has since been found by a court to be mentally ill and dangerous. He remains housed under indefinite civil commitment in a state-operated security hospital as his criminal case proceeds.

At the time of the stabbing, White was under supervised release while awaiting trial on charges that in February 2022 he broke into the Akron home belonging to the parents of Ryan Peterson’s wife, Kassie Peterson, “in a severely impaired mental state,” said attorney Peter Pattakos, who is representing the family members.

Named as defendants are Summit County, various municipal officials and two companies the county contracts with — Oriana House and Community Support Services (CSS) — to help monitor and support defendants while they are released either before or after their criminal cases are resolved.

Pattakos is alleging in the suit that the county’s efforts since 2006 to save money by jailing fewer suspects awaiting trial led to White being moved to the CSS-operated Oriana House, where he cut off his electronic monitoring device, drove more than 11 hours, arrived in Minneapolis and killed Ryan Peterson.

Spokespeople for the county and CSS declined Tuesday to address the allegations in the suit, while an Oriana House representative has yet to respond to a request for comment.

The release strategy by the county “allows even severely mentally ill defendants charged with predatory felonies to receive supervised release and monitoring by these private corporations,” a statement from Pattakos read.

At the time of his escape, the statement said, White was suffering extreme and escalating mental illness while subject to “the maximum level of court-ordered supervision and conditions of pre-trial release, including GPS monitoring by Oriana House.”

The suit also alleges that officials with the county and the two companies failed to alert Kassie Peterson that White was on the run.

In June 2022, four months after breaking into the Akron home three times in two days to see his former high school classmate, White violated a no-contact order and sent an electronic message to Kassie Peterson asking her to call him, Pattakos noted. She reported the contact and secured a protection order in Minnesota against White, the attorney said.

Despite all the warning signs up to that point, Pattakos said, “not a single person from Oriana House, Community Support Services, the county or otherwise made any effort to notify or warn Kassie or any of her family members of Franklin’s escape from their supervision.”

The suit seeks at least $75,000 in damages, along with whatever monetary relief the court deems worthy. Any award either through a settlement or at trial could mean a far larger payout.