A first of its kind lawsuit in Texas targets a Houston motel where a woman says her daughter was forced into prostitution before she was murdered.
“It makes me sad for her, said Janiece Charlez.
She can’t help but think of her daughter’s final days when she looks at photos of her.
“Her last text to me was ‘I don’t have any place to go mom,’” said Charlez.
She says Natalie Fisher got caught up in a world of sex trafficking, while seeking a better life.
She eventually ended up at the Plainfield Inn in Southwest Houston.
That’s where she had sex for money in the months before her murder last September.
“They used her and threw her away,” said Charlez.
A civil lawsuit filed on behalf of Fisher’s family, including two young daughters, is the first in Texas to go after a business accused of harboring human trafficking.
It claims Plainfield Inn owners were aware of prostitution and still rented rooms to known pimps and drug dealers.
“While you, on one hand, benefit the victims and the victim’s families,” said attorney Ross Bussard. “You also serve to deter and make aware businesses and others that may think it’s okay to turn a blind eye.”
Charlez says she didn’t think twice about testing a law that’s actually been on the books since 2009.
“If you’re going to profit from this type of behavior, there are going to be consequences,” said Charlez.
She says it will be worth it if she saves one girl from ending up the way Natalie did.
The lawsuit says Houston Police responded to the Plainfield Inn more than 400 times in a two-year period for various crimes.
And KHOU 11 News verified the motel has also been sued at least twice by the city or state in their efforts to clean it up.
The motel owners were not willing to comment on our story.
They have 20 days from the filing of the lawsuit to respond in court.