Lawsuit over Andrea Farrington’s murder settled

A lawsuit filed by the parents of the late Andrea Farrington against the Coral Ridge Mall and a security company has been settled, court documents show.

The lawsuit was filed after the murder of Farrington, 20, by security guard Alexander Kozak inside the Coralville mall on June 12, 2015.

Court documents show the suit was dismissed earlier this month with prejudice, meaning it can't be refiled. Records do not contain details of the settlement.

The attorney for Cheryl and David Farrington, Andrea's parents, couldn't be reached late Wednesday.

The suit, filed in January against Universal Protection Service, the Coral Ridge Mall and its management company, General Growth Properties and Kozak, asserts 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, the suit stated.

Testimony during Kozak's murder trial in April showed that Farrington complained and reported incidents to a co-worker, and told the co-worker she feared Kozak.

The two had a mostly text-messaging relationship, but Farrington broke that off on June 12, 2015. That day as she was working at the Iowa Children's Museum information desk inside the mall, Kozak shot her three times in the back and fled, but was captured later as he drove on Interstate 80.

The suit asked for damages, including future wages for Farrington, funeral expenses, loss of income to her estate, pain and suffering and medical expenses.

Kozak, 23, of North Liberty, was convicted by a jury of first-degree murder and is serving a life sentence in prison.