Minnesota family's wrongful death lawsuit alleges suspect cut off ankle monitor, drove 11+ hours to victim
MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota family is fighting for change after their son died in a horrifying home invasion.
Kassie and Ryan Peterson woke up to a frightening sound one morning in 2022.
"They were just laughing and being goofy," Ryan Peterson's mother, Janet, said. "Then they heard pounding on the door. The door was being broken in."
Janet Peterson says the Minneapolis couple knew the man at the door. She says it was Franklin White, a high school classmate of Kassie Peterson's in Ohio.
A new lawsuit filed by the Petersons says White was "obsessed" with Kassie Peterson.
Janet Peterson says White stabbed her son to death while Kassie Peterson watched.
"Ryan and Kassie's eyes met, and she told him, 'I love you,' and she saw him pass away and then she ran out of the house screaming," she said.
According to the family's wrongful death suit, White had previously broken into Kassie Peterson's parents' home in Ohio three times looking for her.
He was arrested and charged with felony home invasion.
But he was put on a pre-trial release that included supervision and a GPS ankle monitor.
"Court records show that [White] suffered from severe mental illness," said Peter Pattakos, the family's attorney. "Schizophrenia, very severe psychosis."
The lawsuit says White cut off his ankle bracelet and drove "more than 11 hours" from Ohio to Minnesota.
It says, "Not a single person...made any effort to notify or warn Kassie or any of her family members of [White's] escape from their supervision."
"Had that warning been provided, the family would've taken measures to protect themselves and Ryan Peterson would've been alive today," said Pattakos.
Janet Peterson says he was empathetic, had a lot of friends and a mischievous sense of humor.
"We have been wanting to share the story with the hope that something could change and no one else would have to suffer the agony that we've had to suffer," Janet Peterson said.
White was arrested in Wisconsin shortly after the killing and is facing murder charges in Minnesota.
White pleaded not guilty in June to a second-degree murder charge. He was initially found incompetent to stand trial, but a court reversed that decision in March. A jury trial is scheduled for November. Another evaluation for mental illness or cognitive impairment was ordered Thursday.
The Petersons are suing the county in Ohio and the two companies tasked with supervising White.
Three of the defendants told WCCO they could not comment on pending litigation.