Today, family and friends of the Velez family gathered in front of the Tropicana Atlantic City in support of 8-year-old Javier “Javi” Velez, who was killed by a drunk driver on July 23, 2023 while on an early-morning fishing trip.
Javi had returned to his family’s vehicle to take a nap while his father and younger brother packed up from their excursion. Edward Johnston, who had allegedly gotten drunk at Tropicana Casino’s Boogie Nights, hit Velez’s Honda Civic with Javi inside, killing him and changing a family’s life in an instant.
Following Johnston’s sentencing to 15 years in May 2025, van der Veen, Hartshorn, Levin & Lindheim filed a civil complaint, alleging multiple claims against Edward Johnston, Tropicana Atlantic City, Ducktown Tavern Offshore LLC, and Boardwalk Regency LLC, including wrongful death, pain and suffering, negligence, dram shop liability, and emotional distress. van der Veen announced the complaint following Johnston’s sentencing, saying, “Today, we are going to start going after the bar that got him drunk.”
The original complaint was amended to now include punitive damages, as well as compensatory.
Lawsuit Claims Tropicana and Bar Staff Failed to Follow Basic Alcohol Safety Protocols
On Thursday, June 5, 2025, a motion to amend the complaint was filed, alleging that Tropicana not only “concealed and/or destroyed evidence in this case” but that their bartenders were not TIPS and/or ServSafe certified.
According to depositions taken from several Boogie Nights bartenders and one manager, shot pours were only measured when the customer was ordering an expensive bottle of liquor. Furthermore, the bartenders allegedly did not keep track of how many drinks a customer was being served, highlighting the egregious negligence that allowed Johnston to take the life of an innocent child and destroy his family. In a deposition with van der Veen, Boogie Nights manager Jennifer Kokinda claimed that the drinker is responsible for their actions, not the pourer.
Evidence Tampering Allegations Add New Layer to Family’s Wrongful Death Lawsuit
Van der Veen also alleges that the Tropicana disregarded a subpoena they received from the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office, ordering them to provide video of Johnston inside the hotel and its club, Boogie Nights, from 10 p.m. on July 22, 2023, to 3 a.m. on July 23, 2023. Johnston hit the Velez vehicle at approximately 3:25 a.m. on July 23, 2023. Brian Barnett, the Director of Security for Tropicana Atlantic City, allegedly attempted to conceal and destroy the video surveillance during an inspection of Tropicana’s Security Offices. Per van der Veen, “Chunks of that video did not survive past 14 days before being deleted, totaling an hour and a half of missing video.”
Van der Veen alleges that these actions combined are causative of the death of Javier, and so MTV has compiled a motion to amend their complaint to ask for punitive damages and to ask for relief from the destruction of the video. We are asking for justice. The amended motion now claims fraudulent concealment of evidence, as well as negligent hiring, supervision, and training.
Javi should never have lost his life. Our firm is committed to pursuing justice for the negligent actions that led to this unimaginable tragedy for Javi’s family.