A Cobb County jury declined to award any damages against a Six Flags Drive apartment complex where a man was shot to death as he was leaving for work one Sunday morning. Franklin “Basim” Callens was gunned down by two teenagers who left the 27-year-old dying in the parking lot, ditched their stolen vehicle and drove off in Callens' girlfriend's car, according to court filings. Hall Booth Smith partner Jeffery Saxby said the jury took a little over two hours to decide that the apartment's security measures were adequate, agreeing that the off-duty police officers it hired to patrol the premises were an adequate safety measure and that their failure to be on hand at the time of the shooting was logical. “The officers testified that they patrol until 2 or 3 a.m. Saturday night, but they don't expect crime at 9 a.m. on a Sunday,” said Saxby, who defended the complex with partner John Hall. The slain man's mother and estranged wife are represented by Shiver Hamilton partner R. Scott Campbell and firm colleague Daniel Beer. “We understood going in that it was going to be a challenge winning a negligent security case in Cobb County,” Campbell said. Campbell said the complex's insurer “never offered a fraction of the value of the case,” refusing to go any higher than a $250,000 offer shortly before trial. Saxby said the plaintiffs demanded $11 million to settle before the suit was filed, but Campbell said his team offered to settle for $2 million about a year ago. “They made our decision to go to trial easy,” said Campbell. “They never made any reasonable offers, and we continue to believe that the apartments were negligent. Unfortunately, a Cobb County jury didn't see it the way we saw it.” No decision has been made as to any appeal, he said. According to Saxby and court filings, Callens was living with his girlfriend Asia Jones at her Concepts 21 Apartments in Austell when the shooting occurred. The apartments had a history of criminal occurrences, including one in March 2015 when Callens' brother Umar—who also lived in the unit—saw someone shooting across the parking lot at someone else and another a few months later when Jones, Callen and their roommates saw a young man holding a gun to the head of another man outside their apartment window. Umar Callens moved out, and Jones and Callens were discussing leaving as well, but they were still living there in December 2015. Callens was leaving for work as a hotel parking valet when two teenagers who had stolen a car in Douglas County exited Interstate 20 and encountered Callens, shot him and stole Jones' car. “No one knows whether he resisted,” said Saxby. Douglas County officers had been tracking a cellphone the teens had stolen, and they were arrested “almost immediately,” he said. The teens, then 15 and 16, were charged as adults and indicted for murder, Saxby said; they have not yet gone to trial. Callens' wife, Bintou Cham, and his mother and executor, Aeysha Harris, sued ECI Management and Cobb-Six Flags Associates in Cobb County State Court in 2016. Saxby said the parties were “worlds apart” during a mediation a few months before trial before M. Gino Brogdon Sr. at Henning Mediation & Arbitration Services, and the case went to trial June 18 before Judge Toby Prodgers. “Their general theory was that the apartment was aware of the history of prior crime, including violent crime and didn't institute appropriate measures to keep the premises safe,” Saxby said. The defense pointed to the apartment management's decision to hire off-duty Cobb County police officers to patrol the complex in marked police units, beefing up their presence at night and during seasons when more foot traffic is present. Saxby said the plaintiff's case included testimony by safety and security consultant John Villines of Cleveland, Georgia, who argued that the apartments had not instituted recommended safety measures or had a full security assessment. The defense countered with Houston, Texas, security expert Karim Vellani, who pointed out that the recommendations Villines cited were nothing more than that and had not been officially adopted by any agency, Saxby said. “I think the experts were basically a wash,” Saxby said. In closing, Saxby said the plaintiffs lawyers asked for $22.1 million for the wrongful death claim and $2.1 million for the pain and suffering Callens experienced before dying at the scene of the shooting. “From our conversation with the jurors, it looks like it was an 11-to-1 defense verdict vote right from the gate, with one holdout they had to convince,” Saxon said. “The gist I got from the jury was that, 'Well, bad things happen down in south Cobb County,'” said Campbell. “They didn't seem to be receptive to our argument that it doesn't have to be that way.”