Survivors of Slain Guard Win $7 Million

A Compton Superior Court jury has awarded $5 million to the widow and six children of Joseph Sefo, 38, a former Samoan high school principal who was working as a security guard when he was shot to death July 10, 1980, during a bank robbery in Gardena.

Superior Court Judge Roy Brown also ordered Bank of America to pay $2,343,835 in interest to Sefo’s widow, Kalameli, 44, and his children, ages 13 to 23, according to Michael J. Piuze, attorney for the family.

Piuze argued that the bank had ignored the warnings of Sefo’s employer, Johnson Security Co., that more than one guard was needed full-time at the Gardena branch.