QUARTZ HILL : Suit Over Woman’s Death Is Rejected

A judge Tuesday rejected a wrongful death lawsuit against Los Angeles County and the Sheriff’s Department filed by the family of a Quartz Hill woman who was fatally stabbed Feb. 4, 1992, by her daughter’s obsessive ex-boyfriend.

Setting the stage for the case to be dismissed, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Yaffe rejected the argument by the family of Dorothy Waguespack, 53, that the Sheriff’s Department was negligent by failing to intervene in her slaying by Larry H. Rogers, 20, of Lancaster. He later hanged himself while in custody.

Attorneys for the woman’s husband, her daughter and 11 siblings argued that deputies had created a “special relationship” with the family by offering them a sheriff’s phone number to call for help. Otherwise, the Sheriff’s Department has legal immunity from such lawsuits.