Wrongful death lawsuit filed against Mesa group home Emily Pike ran away from before her murder

PHOENIX — The father of murdered teen Emily Pike is pursuing a wrongful death lawsuit against Mesa group home Sacred Journey Inc., according to the law firm representing his case.

Emily’s father, Jensen Pike, believes the facility his daughter was living in failed to provide reasonable care.

Olivia Lemorocco, vice president of operations at Phillips Law Group, the law firm that filed the lawsuit, said she hopes the outcome of this case will improve the way group homes are run in Arizona.

“For the lawsuit, the outcome that we are anticipating and working toward is that they are found negligent for the wrongful death of Emily Pike,” Lemorocco told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Monday.

What’s the connection between Emily Pike and the Mesa group home lawsuit?

The lawsuit claims Sacred Journey Inc. failed to provide reasonable care.

“We’re citing negligence on behalf of the group home,” Lemorocco said. “Our stance is that Emily left the group home unsupervised. They did not know where she was. They failed to call and follow the proper procedure to alert the authorities, and she was found murdered, ultimately, due to the negligence of the group home.”

Fourteen-year-old Emily ran away from Sacred Journey Inc. in late January. Her remains were discovered more than 100 miles away on Feb. 14, along U.S. 60 near Globe. No suspect has been identified.

“I think anybody who’s a caregiver, a parent, generally we know where the people that we’re caring for are, at a bare minimum, and giving them their very basic minimum needs. In Emily’s case, we’re not certain that those were met,” Lemorocco said. “We certainly feel that she was failed towards the end by not even following these basic standards of procedure.”

KTAR News 92.3 FM reached out to Sacred Journey Inc., but it did not immediately respond to requests for a comment.

First Amended Complaint Jensen Pike by sosullivan

Impact of death of slain Carlos Apache teen Emily Pike on Arizona law

Emily’s death sparked renewed activism focused on raising awareness about the disproportionate number of disappearances and violent deaths affecting Native American communities for decades.

Emily, a San Carlos Apache teenager, is the namesake of “Emily’s Law,” which Gov. Katie Hobbs signed in May. The legislation established a “Turquoise Alert” system that issues unique alerts when an Indigenous person goes missing in Arizona.

“What we’re hoping to achieve here is justice for Emily, justice for Emily’s family,” Lemorocco said. “That’s the bottom line.”

Following Pike’s death, the Department of Child Safety committed to making several changes, including addressing gaps in communication between Tribal governments and DCS, as well as inconsistent collaboration between DCS and law enforcement agencies when children run away from group homes.

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Balin Overstolz McNair contributed to this report.

Related

Arizona governor signs ‘Emily's Law’ to trigger alerts when Native Americans go missingSilent Witness reward in Emily Pike murder case increased to $27,000Turquoise Alert canceled for 6-year-old girl last seen at Phoenix Sky Harbor AirportSan Carlos Apache teenager's death reverberates throughout Indian CountryDepartment of Health confirms first case of Clade I mpox in Arizona but says public risk lowJay Feely, Amish Shah win respective primaries, will face each other for CD-1