Claiming negligence with a loaded handgun, the parents of an 18-year-old St. Maries woman killed on Christmas Day filed a lawsuit against the parents of a man criminally charged with her death, court documents show.

Joseph D. Herrera, 28, was charged with second-degree murder in 1st District Court in Benewah County, following the death of Stefanie A. Comack. She was shot in the head with a .380 mm semi-automatic handgun at the St. Maries home of Jerrilynn R. Herrera and Jesse Herrera, at 319 S. 14th St.

Joseph Herrera, a lifetime resident of St. Maries, told law enforcement investigators he was attempting to unload the gun when it went off, Benewah County Prosecutor Doug Payne said shortly after the killing.

James E. Comack and his wife, Suzane Comack, Stefanie's parents, said in court documents the "gun was left unlocked and unattended by defendants Jerrilynn Herrera and Jesse Herrera" in their home, and their gun "was loaded with live ammunition in a clip and in the chamber of the gun."

The lawsuit was filed by the Comacks' attorney, Richard Whitehead, on Jan. 18. A representative at his office said he was out this week and unavailable for comment.

The Herreras have not filed a response. They couldn't immediately be reached for comment. It was unclear if they've hired an attorney to represent them.

The lawsuit alleged the Herreras were aware, or should have been, that their son had a "proclivity of violence" against Stefanie Comack.

It said he had demonstrated aggressive and dangerous "propensities, including threatening (the) use of a firearm for bodily harm of (Stefanie) on a prior occasion."

It also said the Herreras "recklessly disregarded their heightened duty of care" to make sure their handgun was in a locked storage and unavailable to their son who was living with them at the time.

The Comacks said they are entitled to maximum damages allowable for the loss of their daughter. They also want to be reimbursed for attorney fees and to be repaid for the medical, funeral and burial costs that resulted from her shooting and death, according to the lawsuit documents.