A Minneapolis man shot outside his home is suing former owners of the residence. Here's why.
When you sell your house, do you have to tell the buyers you have a terrible neighbor?
Minneapolis resident Davis Moturi thinks so. His neighbor in the fall of 2024 was accused of shooting him. Moturi says the people who sold him the house should have raised a red flag. A lawsuit filed earlier this month blames the sellers for his living nightmare.
Moturi was shot while trimming a tree in his front yard in 2024. John Sawchak is accused of being the individual who pulled the trigger.
The shooting happened after more than a year of harassment and 38 calls to 911. Moturi says his complaints were not taken seriously by police.
"I never felt like MPD was willing to protect me at all," Moturi said.
The lawsuit claims the couple that sold him and his wife their south Minneapolis home didn't protect them either. State law says sellers have to disclose whether there's anything that would "significantly affect an ordinary buyer's use and enjoyment of the property."
The court document, which names Moturi as plaintiff, said "at no time during the negotiation or closing process" did the former homeowners disclose any of the incidents they dealt with, and that they were not "simply selling the Property as part of a typical move—they were fleeing a deeply hostile and threatening situation."
A request for a restraining order was filed in 2015 by the resident who lived in the same home where Moturi lives now. At that time, the resident wrote about Sawchak that they were afraid something terrible might happen before something is done.
Former Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara after the shooting apologized for how his agency handled the situation.
An independent city investigation published in April found several shortcomings, including no system to automatically flag repeat calls, responding officers had varying levels of knowledge about laws, policies and procedures, and they did not consistently report bias or weapons.
A judge found Sawchak not competent to proceed with legal proceedings at this time.
