Blalock v. SRKBS Hotel

── Blalock v. SRKBS Hotel ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Date: May 15, 2026 Category: General Appellate Case: 24-3051 Document: 68-1 Date Filed: 05/15/2026 Page: 1 FILED United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS May 15, 2026 FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT _________________________________ Christopher M. Wolpert Clerk of Court MAELLA BLALOCK, Plaintiff - Appellant, v. No. 24-3051 (D.C. No. 2:21-CV-02552-DDC) SRKBS HOTEL, LLC; NINAD (D. Kan.) SHARMA; PARESH BHAKTA; SURENDRAKUMAR BHAKTA; GEETA V. REDDY; RSD, LLC; SEVJAYMAN, LLC, Defendants - Appellees. _________________________________ ORDER AND JUDGMENT * _________________________________ Before McHUGH, EID, and FEDERICO, Circuit Judges. _________________________________ Maella Blalock was asleep in her Wichita hotel room when she was hit and injured by a stray bullet that came through the wall of her room. She subsequently filed a negligence suit against the hotel’s owner and operator, SRKBS Hotel, LLC, in addition to its members (collectively, * This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It may be cited, however, for its persuasive value consistent with Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 32.1 and Tenth Circuit Rule 32.1.  Appellate Case: 24-3051 Document: 68-1 Date Filed: 05/15/2026 Page: 2 SRKBS). 1 Blalock claimed that SRKBS violated its duty to protect her even though a third party, and not anyone affiliated with SRKBS, had fired the bullet. While Kansas law sometimes imposes a duty on business owners to protect their patrons against the criminal acts of third parties, that duty arises only in limited circumstances. The district court granted summary judgment for SRKBS after concluding that Blalock had not presented enough evidence of such circumstances to warrant a trial. We agree, so we exercise our jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 to affirm. I On the night of June 19, 2020, Blalock was staying as a registered guest at a Super 8 Motel owned and operated by SRKBS. That night, Gregg Townsend was working as the night auditor at the Super 8. At approximately 11:30 p.m., Townsend rented a room on the third floor to two women. Unfortunately, those women proved to be poor guests. Shortly after renting them a room, Townsend received a noise complaint. When he went up to the women’s room to investigate, he discovered roughly thirty people packed into the room, partying. He demanded that everyone 1 SRKBS consists of the following members: Ninad Sharma; Paresh Bhakta; Surendrakumar Bhakta; Geeta V. Reddy; RSD, LLC; and Sevjayman, LLC. 2  Appellate Case: 24-3051 Document: 68-1 Date Filed: 05/15/2026 Page: 3 except the two women leave. The partygoers complied and exited the building, but they ended up congregating in the parking lot. A few minutes later, at approximately 2:35 a.m., an altercation broke out between the partygoers who remained in the parking lot, culminating in gunfire. Stray bullets went through the wall of Blalock’s room on the first floor, and one struck her, causing injuries to her feet. At roughly 3:00 a.m., the shooting was reported to the Wichita Police Department, which respon