Family reaches settlement in wrongful death suit over Kaila Tran murder
Family accused Tran's ex-boyfriend Drake Moslenko of plotting her death
The family of a woman stabbed to death in the parking lot of her apartment building has settled their wrongful death lawsuit against the woman's boyfriend, who was accused of masterminding the murder.
Drake Moslenko, now 33, was charged with first-degree murder after an associate of his, Treyvonne Willis, stabbed Kaila Tran more than 30 times after ambushing her in broad daylight on June 20, 2012.
Willis was convicted of first-degree murder by jury in April 2015 and is serving a prison sentence of life without a chance at parole for 25 years.
Moslenko has denied having anything to do with Tran's murder, although he admitted to knowing Willis.
"I had no reason whatsoever to cause the death of Kaila, as I loved her and we continued to live together until the day she died," he has said in court documents.
Prosecutors stayed the charge against Moslenko during his preliminary inquiry after they lost a key evidentiary ruling regarding hearsay evidence.
Lawsuit set to go to trial next year
Members of Tran's family fought and won the right to file the wrongful death lawsuit against him, claiming he was behind the murder and seeking to prevent him from claiming further life-insurance proceeds held by her estate.
In March, a judge rejected Moslenko's request for a summary judgement dismissing the lawsuit, which had been scheduled to go to trial on Jan. 27, 2020.
"It is necessary to achieve a fair and just adjudication to have this matter proceed through the trial process," Court of Queen's Bench Justice Joan McKelvey ruled. "There exists a significant factual conflict in this complex matter."
During the court fight over the summary judgement, the Tran's family submitted evidence showing she had planned to break up with Moslenko because he had been cheating on her.
The family also filed a second video of police interrogating Willis, which was not used in the criminal cases against Willis and Moslenko. In it, he implicates Moslenko in Tran's killing, alleging he'd offered to retire a large drug debt Willis owed to a mutual acquaintance, a drug dealer.
A recent letter from McKelvey on the court file indicates it's possible the case may be settled.
With this discontinuance of the court action by the family, all trial dates for next year will no longer go ahead.
No details of the settlement agreement were revealed in the court document, which was filed on April 17, 2019.
With files from James Turner