Lawsuit claims Kozak harassed, threatened woman before he allegedly killed her

A lawsuit filed against the company who employed Alexander Kozak as a security guard claims Kozak harassed and threatened 20-year-old Andrea Farrington before he fatally shot her at the Coral Ridge Mall last June.

Authorities have never provided a motive as to why Kozak targeted Andrea Farrington. He shot her three times in the back as she was working at the Iowa Children's Museum information desk near the mall's food court on June 12. Kozak told police after being arrested that Farrington broke up with him that day, but no one has confirmed any kind of a relationship between them.

Kozak, 22, of North Liberty, is charged with first-degree murder and his trial is set for April 12, in Story County District Court. The trial was moved out of Johnson County last year, after a judge granted change of venue due to pretrial publicity.  

The suit, filed in January against Universal Protection Service, the Coral Ridge Mall and its management company, General Growth Properties Inc., claims Farrington complained to Universal Protection Service about Kozak harassing and physically threatening her. The company instructed Kozak to stay away from her and assigned him to a different patrol area of the mall, but Kozak didn't comply and continued to harass and contact Farrington, according to the suit.

The suit doesn't say when he started harassing and threatening her.                           

Farrington, being an employee at the mall, had to provide her phone number to the security company, in the event the security guards and mall employees needed to contact her regarding operations at the mall, the suit states.     

The suit contends Farrington's death was a direct result of Kozak's conduct and claims several counts of negligence against Universal Protection Service, Coral Ridge Mall and General Growth Properties Inc. It also claims battery against Kozak for his 'willful, wanton and reckless' actions against Farrington. It again mentions his contact was 'nonconsensual.'

Cheryl and David Farrington, parents of Andrea, ask for damages, including future wages for Farrington, funeral expenses, loss of income to her estate, pain and suffering and medical expenses.

Last week, a judge ordered Kozak to undergo a psychological evaluation by the state because he is claiming diminished responsibility or mental incompetency as a defense.

Johnson County Attorney Janet Lyness filed the motion, asking for Kozak to be evaluated at the Iowa Medical Classification Center in Coralville. The request comes after Kozak's lawyer provided Lyness with an opinion from one of their experts in February, according to the motion.  

Sixth Judicial District Judge Christopher Bruns set strict deadlines for the evaluation and when it should be shared with defense, so it has time to respond.

Bruns in his order said if the opinions don't comply with the deadline, he may exclude them from trial or impose other sanctions. He isn't willing to change the trial date at this time.  

In an earlier ruling, Bruns also denied the defense access to Farrington's iPhone data. Alfredo Parrish, Kozak's lawyer, filed a motion to retrieve texts and emails allegedly sent between Kozak and Farrington. Bruns stated the prosecution didn't have access to the data. A forensic data analyst, data acquisition software and officials at the Department of Narcotics Enforcement attempted to unlock the phone but couldn't.

Bruns mentioned the situation of accessing data from an iPhone has been in the news recently as Apple refused to provide the FBI with access to the phone of a suspect in last December's mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif.