The staff of a downtown nightclub failed to do enough to prevent a deadly shooting earlier this year outside the club, a lawsuit filed by the shooting victim’s widow alleges.

LaTonia Coleman, widow of Robert Earl Williams, filed suit late Wednesday in Douglas County District Court against the ownership company of the Granada, 1020 Mass.

Williams, 46, was shot and killed and another man was injured early Feb. 5 when a crowd gathered outside the club after a hip-hop concert- a situation Coleman alleges the club knew was likely to erupt in violence.

“From the facts I’ve got, the Granada did have security people at the doors that were patting people down as they came in. They apparently expected people to carry weapons in,” said James Wisler, an attorney representing Coleman. “As I understand, the security was pretty lax, and people were coming and going and the searches were not very thorough.

“Given the nature of the event : the hip-hop reputation is one that would lead them to believe they would need more security.”

The couple’s 7-year-old son, Robert, also is listed as a plaintiff.

Mike Logan, the Granada’s owner, did not return telephone calls Thursday. In an interview days after the shooting, he said there were no major problems during the concert itself, which featured artists from Denver-based Upset Records.

“They were shot 75 feet from our doorstep a half-hour after we closed, and obviously we don’t staff the sidewalk,” he said at the time. “We had no reason to think that anything would happen on the street, but unfortunately it happened well after we were closed.”

A Topeka man, Rashawn T. Anderson, is charged with murder in Williams’ death and is being held in the Douglas County Jail. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 12.

Coleman has said that she believes the shooting happened after Anderson interjected himself in an argument between Williams and an acquaintance. The argument died down, and minutes later Williams was shot as he was trying to make arrangements to follow the hip-hop artists’ limousine to Kansas City for an afterparty, she said.

Wisler pointed to a statement issued by Upset Records after the incident that blamed the shooting on a “lack of security.” The record label alleged the Granada was supposed to have provided a police officer to escort artists out of the show and watch the door as people left. But Logan has called that claim a “ridiculous” fabrication.

The lawsuit does not state an exact amount of the damages Coleman is seeking. It says she’s seeking more than $75,000 each for:

¢ Williams’ suffering before his death.

¢ Coleman’s damages, including mental anguish, loss of her husband and loss of his earnings.

¢ Damages to the younger Robert Williams for the loss of his father.