Popular school principal killed unarmed and in bathrobe by neighbor in Chicago high-rise; family files lawsuit as no charges are filed against shooter

The family of a Chicago-area assistant principal who was shot and killed in his apartment building by one of his neighbors last year has filed a lawsuit alleging negligence and wrongful death.

No one has been criminally charged in connection with the death of Abnerd Joseph, the assistant principal of Intrinsic High School in downtown Chicago.

The 32-year-old Atlanta native was shot and killed in his luxury high-rise in downtown Chicago on September 14, 2023.

According to police, Joseph was “wildly” banging on his neighbors’ doors that night and “yelling incomprehensible things.” Authorities said when several neighbors and the building’s doorman checked on Joseph, Joseph hit the doorman several times.

Joseph’s family is having a hard time accepting that possibility, telling Tampa Bay News: “He did not live that violent life,” said Joseph’s brother Jay Charles.

The police report states that a neighbor who has a concealed carry permit warned Joseph that he was armed and tried to calm him down. Joseph “turned around and charged at him,” at which point the man fired his weapon, hitting Joseph multiple times.

Joseph was shot in the chest, stomach, flank, armpit and one of his ring fingers.

The neighbor who shot him claimed it was self-defense. He was taken into custody and later released without charge.

“That doesn’t sound right. No, that’s a clear injustice. You can’t take the life of someone who meant so much to people. It’s not like he was in a gang or anything,” said Ashley Joseph, Joseph’s sister, about the neighbor’s release.

Attorneys for Joseph’s family questioned the way police characterized the moments leading up to the shooting, arguing in the lawsuit that the building’s owners, management, security personnel and the neighbor who fired the fatal shots were liable because they were extreme in their response to Joseph’s behavior, particularly as police were en route to the scene.

The family said Joseph had changed his medication for his ADHD shortly before his death and believed he was suffering from “emotional distress” at the time of the shooting.

The lawsuit identified the tenant who shot Joseph as 45-year-old Garrett Mark Smith. Attorneys say Smith, who lived on the same floor as Joseph, had no security or police training.

“There’s a reason vigilantism is illegal. And this case shows exactly why,” said family attorney Antonio Romanucci. “For our lawsuit, it doesn’t matter at all whether Joseph was aggressive, because even if there was some kind of physical aggression on Abnerd’s part, we say what you do in a situation like that is step back, de-escalate the situation and give it time.”

Joseph’s family has not yet seen surveillance video of the shooting, but the family’s lawyers want to subpoena the video. They say he was unarmed at the time of the shooting and was wearing socks, a bathrobe and boxer shorts.

Authorities still classify the case as an open investigation and the family continues to push for charges to be filed.

“He was taken from us like this, and no answers, nothing … it’s just heartbreaking,” Joseph’s brother Bryan Biename told ABC7 Chicago.

“He did everything right. He went to school. He never got in trouble with the law,” said Joseph’s sister, Jeanne Joseph Kelly. “He worked hard for everything he had, and that’s the most heartbreaking thing about it.”

Joseph was a teacher and assistant principal at Kipp Metro Atlanta Schools before moving to Chicago. Students at Intrinsic High School told CBS last year that Joseph was attentive, kind and interested in student success.

“He was a really nice and laid back person…when you see him in the hallway and things like that, that makes the day,” student Jonathan Wilson told CBS. “His smile, just saying, ‘What’s up? How are you?’ – things like that – that really made my day.”

“No one would have ever told me this day would come because the way Mr. Joseph carried himself and the attitude he had – he had high standards,” said student Mariya Thompson. “If Mr. Joseph – if something were to happen, Mr. Joseph would do everything he could for his students.”