BRUNSWICK, Ga. (CN) - Children say their elderly parents died in their home elevator, which became stuck between floors with a dead telephone. The couple, who were 90 and 88, were stuck in the elevator for days before they were found.
Wesley and Leslie Wadsworth sued South Georgia Elevator and its agent, Ronald Hickox, for negligence and wrongful death.
Their parents, Sherwood and Carolyn Wadsworth, were found in their home several days after their residential elevator became stuck between floors.
The Wadsworths say the defendants failed to repair the home elevator properly and failed to see that it had a working telephone.
The elevator, "a residential winding drum-style elevator that traveled between the garage/basement level up to the second story of the house," came with the house when the Wadsworths bought it. The couple called South Georgia Elevator because it was making "an unidentified and inappropriate noise."
The children say that Hickox worked on the elevator but "failed to repair, correct the length of and secure excess cable ends" and failed to "notify the Wadsworths of the dangerous condition posed by the absence of a functioning telephone in the elevator."
The excess cable ends caused the malfunction, the children say. As a result, their parents were "trapped in the elevator with no means to escape and no means to telephonically communicate with anyone to rescue them. They were found dead in the elevator several days after the slack cable switch was activated by one of the excess cable ends."
They seek damages for wrongful death and negligence.
They are represented by Dennis Keene, with Hunter, Maclean, Exley & Dunn, of Savannah.
Subscribe to Closing Arguments
Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.
Additional Reads
-
Alaska, Hawaiian Airlines April 17, 2024 -
-
Contributor-Test-Post-2024-04-12 April 12, 2024 -
