A Philadelphia tenant and city officials are calling on the state to get involved and take action against the landlord-tenant officer whose contractors have been involved in multiple shootings during evictions in the past four months.
Angel Davis -- a 35-year-old woman who was shot in the head by a private security officer hired by the Landlord-Tenant Office (LTO) during an eviction in March 2023 -- filed a lawsuit against the landlord-tenant officer Marisa Shuter as well as the officer involved in the shooting.
Davis was shot in her home at Girard Court Apartments by Lamont Daniels who was acting under the authority of Shuter who was hired by the apartment complex and its property manager Odin properties, LLC to evict Davis.
The city of Philadelphia outsources evictions to the landlord-tenant officer, who in turns outsources lockouts to private security contractors.
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“For far too long, the landlord-tenant officer has operated recklessly, dangerously, and opaquely,” Councilmember Jamie Gauthier said. “Turning a profit by employing untrained and uncertified private security contractors to throw residents out of their homes.”
Shuter does not have a formal policy outlining how her armed security contractors are expected to perform evictions, Gauthier said.
Gauthier provided details as to what the eviction encounters are like for tenants based on what she heard at a hearing the city's council members held.
Gauthier said an armed contractor shows up at a tenant’s door without uniform and without warning. The contractor commands the tenant to grab whatever they can within 10 minutes, or they will be locked out of their home forever, according to Gauthier.
Gauthier said this leaves families to run around grabbing their essentials like medication and clothes, and if they have time, they feed their pets and call loved ones to figure out where they are sleeping that night.
After 10 minutes, the armed contractor changes the locks and leaves without giving the family any resources as to where they can go for help, according to Gauthier.
“This is how the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection handles evictions,” Gauthier said. “Not only are we the only city in the commonwealth that empowers a private citizen to carry out this function, we allow her to do this without a written contract in place.”
With no oversight of this officer, evictions in Philadelphia have become increasingly violent and dangerous with three shootings during evictions in the past three months, according to Gauthier.
State Senator Nikil Saval said his office is working to advance legislation to prohibit the use of private contractors to perform evictions.
“When our city permits evictions to be conducted by private security contractors who enter a home with no oversight, no accountability—this violence is compounded,” Senator Saval said.
Saval said Shuter has refused to disclose anything about her business, employees or hired contractors.
To be able to abolish a city appointed landlord-tenant officer, a state-level law needs to be passed.
In the meantime, Gauthier said at the local level they are working with the courts to develop a better and safer eviction process. They have been in contact with judges about the temporary suspension of evictions that went into place on July 19, and the changes they want to see before operations start again.
That includes appropriate notice of when evictions are going to happen, training on how to carry out evictions safely and on appropriate firearm use.
“Evictions are a matter of public health and public safety and must be handled by public officials with proper training and public oversight,” Saval said.
State Representative Morgan Cephas said in 2020, 66,000 evictions were filed in Pennsylvania and on an ongoing basis 23% of renters are behind on their rent payments and 37% of late payers are likely to be evicted within two months.
Timeline of shooting incidents
On March 29, Lamont Daniels, a private contractor hired by the landlord-tenant officer, shot Davis in the head while conducting an eviction, police said.
At some point during that eviction process, a struggle ensued, according to investigators.
“He made contact with the residents inside and at some point during that contact a physical struggle ensued at which time the rent server discharged his firearm striking the female resident in her head, one time,” Philadelphia Police Lieutenant Jason Hendershot said.
Davis' husband, Gabriel Plummer, gave his account of what happened during an interview with NBC10.
“He was trying to push the door open,” Plummer said. “We’re pushing it closed. Because you’re not coming in here. We don’t know what’s going on.”
Plummer said the officer then opened fire.
“I seen when he drawed up and he – just like this – baow! He shot her. Just like that. Boom,” Plummer told NBC10.
Davis was transported to the hospital. In their lawsuit, Davis' attorneys said she sustained severe and permanent injuries, including a traumatic brain injury, due to the shooting.
Investigators said a weapon was recovered after the incident.
“Allegedly there was a knife involved,” Lieutenant Hendershot said. “That’s why he discharged his firearm. So we have to figure that out.”
Plummer told NBC10 he was trying to give the worker back personal items that he had dropped.
“He dropped his badge, a watch and some metal thing,” Plummer said. “I don’t know what it was, I just picked it up.”
That next day on March 30, State Senators Sharif Street and Saval announced legislation to ensure that public offices, not private entities, are tasked with conducting evictions.
Councilmembers Kendra Brooks and Gauthier held a hearing in City Council to investigate the landlord-tenant officer and explore reforms to Philadelphia’s eviction system on June 20 with tenants who experienced or witnessed a private contractor eviction.
On June 28, another private contractor hired by the landlord-tenant officer fired his gun at a tenant’s dog during an eviction. The animal was not injured.
A third shooting occurred on July 18 when another private contractor hired by the landlord-tenant officer shot a 33-year-old woman in the leg during an eviction.
The Landlord and Tenant Office of the Municipal Court of Philadelphia said their deputy officer was attacked while attempting to evict the woman.
The woman allowed the officer and the landlord representatives into their home and "without warning" physically assaulted the property manager, the LTO said in a statement NBC10's Brian Sheehan received.
The woman then proceeded to threaten the LTO officer with a knife, according to the office. The LTO said the officer demanded several times that the woman drop the knife and cease the assault before discharging his weapon and hitting the tenant in her leg.
In response to the shooting incidents, the Municipal Court announced a temporary suspension of evictions conducted by the landlord-tenant officer.
On July 20, State Representative Rick Krajewski announced legislation to reform evictions statewide.
There are additional resources for people or communities that have endured gun violence in Philadelphia. Further information can be found here.
