Attorney Sued After His Elderly Client Shoots Woman

Thomas Kyros, 81, lived in Florida and became obsessed with Promethea Pythaitha, the youngest person to graduate from Montana State University (she graduated in 2005 at the age of 13). In 2007, Kyros contacted Pythaitha and her mother, Georgia Smith, and gave them $9,000. Kyros then badgered the family, insisting that Pythaitha leave Montana State University and attend an Ivy League college.

In January of 2011, Kyros traveled to Montana and shot Smith five times outside of the family’s home. Kyros then gave Pythaitha a bag that contained cash and a document naming Pythaitha as the beneficiary of a trust. The document stated that Pythaitha would receive $50,000 a year to attend a named college as long as Smith was not living.

Police arrived on the scene and shot and killed Kyros. Smith suffered permanent injuries but survived the incident.

Smith and Pythaitha filed suit against the Kyros estate in March and have now added David Gilmore, Kyros’ attorney, to the suit. The complaint alleges that Gilmore was negligent in failing to notify authorities that Smith and Pythaitha were in danger. The complaint further alleges that Gilmore knew Kyros was insane and that Gilmore knew Kyros was in Montana. Additionally, the complaint asserts that Gilmore, as trustee, is “making money off the estate of Thomas Kyros as a result of [his] death.”

See Florida Estates Attorney Sued for Alleged Failure to Warn of Danger Posed by Elderly Client, Elder Law Answers, Oct. 26, 2011.