Personal Injury Law

Teenager?s Haunted House Collapse Spurs Wrongful Death Lawsuit

By guest-writer

A recent trip to a St. Louis haunted house turned deadly for an Illinois teenager, prompting her grieving family to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the developers of the popular attraction.

According to reports, the deceased girl, Brittney Holmes, who was only 15 years old at the time of the accident, visited The Darkness, a haunted house in the Soulard neighborhood of St. Louis, in 2009.

According to claims made in the personal injury lawsuit, Holmes? asthma was triggered by the artificial fog and strong scents pumped into the house. As a result of an asthma attack allegedly caused by these features of the haunted house, Holmes went into a vegetative state and died in November of 2010, more than a year after the incident.

This December, Brittney?s father, who lives in Anchorage, Alaska, filed a wrongful death claim in the St. Louis Circuit Court against Halloween Productions Inc., which owned and operated the ill-fated haunted house.

Sources indicate that the president of Halloween Productions Inc. is also the head of the Haunted House Association, a trade organization for other Halloween entrepreneurs. The website of this organization describes haunted houses as ?extremely safe due to tough safety and fire codes they all must live by.?

Documents related to the lawsuit reveal a few interesting facts about that evening’s events. First, the haunted house apparently posted several signs warning potential customers with respiratory problems to avoid the attraction. There is no information, however, about the size or visibility of these warnings.

In addition, Holmes had suffered asthma from the age of 4, and was allergic to peanuts, mildew, grass, dust, and tree nuts. According to the complaint, Holmes began experiencing breathing problems in a car immediately after visiting the haunted house.

Holmes’ use of an inhaler while in a friend’s car did not help her condition, and reports show that her brain had been deprived of oxygen for at least seven minutes before she reached the hospital.

The wrongful death lawsuit further alleges that Halloween Productions, Inc. failed to provide a safe experience for its customers and failed to adequately monitor the presence of dangerous chemicals in the house?s air. The complaint also alleges that Holmes? medical treatment cost the family more than one million dollars.

Wrongful death lawsuits offer families an opportunity to seek justice after they have lost a loved one due to someone else?s negligent or intentional actions. In addition, family members may be able to seek compensation for their medical bills and, in particularly egregious cases, punitive damages.

If you have lost a loved one due to the negligence, or intentional actions, of another person or corporate entity, call a local injury lawyer today to learn more about your legal rights and options.

Full post as published by The Injury Blog on December 28, 2010 (boomark / email).