Minnesota family files wrongful death lawsuit: Suspect cut off ankle bracelet and drove over 11 hours to victim

MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota family is fighting for change after their son died in a terrible break-in.

Kassie and Ryan Peterson were awakened one morning in 2022 by a frightening noise.

“They were just laughing and joking around,” said Janet Peterson, Ryan's mother. “Then they heard a knock on the door. The door was broken down.”

Peterson says the couple from Minneapolis knew the man at the door. She says it was Franklin Whitea high school classmate of Kassie in Ohio.

A new lawsuit filed by the Petersons alleges that White was “obsessed” with Kassie.

Peterson said White stabbed her son while Kassie watched.

“Ryan and Kassie's eyes met and she told him, 'I love you.' Then she saw him die and ran out of the house screaming,” Peterson said.

According to the family's wrongful death lawsuit, White had previously broken into Kassie's parents' home in Ohio three times to search for her.

He was arrested and charged with burglary.

However, he was released before trial, which included surveillance and the use of a GPS ankle bracelet.

“Court records show that [White] suffered from a severe mental illness,” said Peter Pattakos, the family's lawyer. “Schizophrenia, very severe psychosis.”

The indictment states that White cut off his ankle bracelet and drove “more than eleven hours” from Ohio to Minnesota.

It states: “Not a single person … made any effort to notify or warn Kassie or her family members about [White’s] to escape their supervision.”

“Had that warning been given, the family would have taken steps to protect them and Ryan Peterson would still be alive today,” Pattakos said.

Peterson says Ryan was sensitive, had many friends and a mischievous sense of humor.

“We wanted to share the story in the hope that something could change and no one else would have to suffer the torment we had to endure,” she said.

White was arrested in Wisconsin shortly after the murder and faces murder charges in Minnesota.

The Petersons are suing the Ohio county and the two companies responsible for monitoring White.

Two of the defendants told WCCO they could not comment on pending litigation.

The third party did not immediately respond to a request for comment.