Emilia Marin, the teacher, asked Daniel Defense, the Georgia-based manufacturer that sold the 18-year-old gunman an AR-15 rifle online, for financial and marketing records. He bought the gun from a local dealer. She also wants to question company executives.
Marin's attorneys are requesting information about the sale of the specific rifle used in the school massacre, which killed 19 students and two teachers, according to papers filed in Uvalde County district court. They also want information about four Daniel Defense AR-15 rifles discovered in a Las Vegas hotel room in 2017 where a shooter killed 60 people and injured over 400 more.
Marin also requests that the gun manufacturer turn over the last ten years' worth of sales data for AR-15-style semi-automatic rifles, donations to the National Rifle Association and other lobbying groups, and any data on the number of deaths or crimes associated with its guns since 2012.
According to a copy of the filing, Marin's lawyers want any "facts surrounding Daniel Defense's pattern of marketing its products in a manner associating firearms, and minors, by posting on social media."
Authorities falsely accused Marin of leaving a door propped open through which the gunman entered the school. According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, the shooter entered through an unlocked door.
A request for comment from Daniel Defense was not returned.
Lawyers for Alfred Garza and Kimberly Garcia, parents of Amerie Jo Garza, a 10-year-old girl killed at the school, wrote to Daniel Defense on Friday, requesting many of the same marketing materials as Marin.
Mikal Watts of San Antonio, Charla Aldous of Dallas, and Joshua Koskoff of Bridgeport, Connecticut, who specialize in mass torts, individual civil rights, and the Sandy Hook mass shooting, respectively, have also warned the gun manufacturer to keep all potentially relevant information that could be used in litigation.
According to a copy of the letter, the lawyers specifically requested that Daniel Defense turn over any materials related to "your incitement and encouragement of the assaultive use of these weapons; your online purchase system; your communications, on any platform, with the Uvalde shooter; and your awareness of the prior use of AR-15 style rifles in mass shootings."
They asked Daniel Defense to cooperate and provide the information without forcing the family to sue for it, which one of the lawyers described as a long shot.
"I can't help but believe they won't cooperate," Koskoff said. "I'd like to be proven wrong." It would be so refreshing if they just picked up the phone and said, "What do you need from us?" But I don't think they'll do it. We will obtain the information and direct our investigation in any case."