Two-Year Old Dies after Mall Display Falls

On Tuesday, August 27, 209, Orland Square Mall (in Orland park, Illinois) became the scene of a fatal accident. A two-year-old girl – identified as Alexa Martinez – was inside an Akira store with her grandmother, her aunt, and at least four other children when the incident occurred. Witnesses of the incident claim that the child was climbing a temporary wall placed in the shoe department of the store, when part of the store’s display (reported to be a large metal object) fell on the child. According to reports, a doctor and a nurse were shopping nearby when the incident occurred. They rendered aid to the injured tired (they performed CPR). The two-year-old was breathing and had a pulse by the time first-responders arrived; she was then transported to Advocate Christ Medical Center (in Oak Lawn) where she died of her injuries. The child sustained a severe head injury. After the fatal incident, one of the three co-owners of the store in which the incident happened, Eric Hsueh, made a statement in which he explained that the their company is “devastated by [the] tragic event, [and is] working to collect all the details.” The incident is still under investigation.

Understanding Liability in this Case and Similar Incidents

This unfortunate incident that resulted in the death of an innocent child leaves us needing to answer many questions. First and foremost, who is liable for the death of the child? Is the mall liable? Is the store liable? Consider the following points: “ Stores have a duty of care towards their customers. They have the duty to ensure that all there store is completely safe for their customers. They must identify and address hazards that could pose a risk for their customers. When stores fail to identify hazards or simply ignore and fail to address hazards, they are putting their customers at risk of suffering injuries. “ Malls also have a duty of care towards their customers. They have the duty to keep their mall (and the entire mall premises) safe. They must identify and address potential hazards to ensure that their customers are not put at risk of injury. They must keep their premises free of dangerous conditions that could result in preventable accidents. Who is liable – the store or the mall? Any injury that occurs within the mall’s premises could result in the mall facing liability. However, when incidents occur in stores, mall liability becomes secondary. This means that the store in which the incident happened will carry primary liability. What about caretakers? The child was apparently in the store with her grandmother, her aunt, and other children. Could the adults that should have been supervising her be liable in any way? Without a doubt, adults have a specific duty to keep the children under their care out of harm’s way. They must identify and address hazards that could pose a risk of injury to children. Although a caretaker could have prevented the child from climbing the temporary wall, there is no way that they could have known that a metal object would fall and strike the child on the head – killing her. Because of this, they would not likely face any liability.

Do You Have the Right to Sue?

Can you suffer legal action for the wrongful death of your child? Depending on the specific details of the incident, you could sue. Based on premise liability, stores (and malls) have a duty of care towards their customers. When they breach their duty of care and fail to address hazards in their premises, they are negligently putting their customers at risk of injury. When a store negligently contributes to an incident that results in the wrongful death of an innocent party, they could be held liable. What does this mean for you and your right to sue? If your child suffered fatal injuries as a result of the negligent actions of a store owner/manager, you could pursue a wrongful death claim. For more information, do not hesitate to seek legal assistance with our experts immediately.

You Could Recover Compensation

Pursuing a claim and recovering compensation cannot fill the void left by the death of your child. No amount of compensation will reverse the incident and bring your child back. However, you might be eligible to recover compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, funeral and burial costs, loss of consortium, and punitive damages, for example. Your right to recover compensation will always depend on the details of the claim. To ensure that you recover the compensation that you deserve, you must be properly represented. At Downtown L.A. Law Group, we understand that monetary compensation will not magically make the grief go away. However, recovering compensation will help you and your family to overcome some of the setbacks directly related to the death of your child, such as the sudden expenses, for example. Because of this, we are dedicated to ensuring that you and your family recover the maximum amount of compensation for your claim.

Contact Downtown L.A. Law Group

At Downtown L.A. Law Group, we have many years of experience handling a number of claims – including injury and wrongful death claims resulting from falling objects. We are also experienced handling premise liability cases. When you contact our experts, you could be certain that there will always be someone fighting for your rights and representing your best interests. We believe that the negligent parties that contributed to the death of your child should be held accountable for their actions. If you would like to discuss your claim with our experts, do not hesitate to contact us immediately. You could benefit from our free legal services which include free consultations and free second opinions. During our free consultations and free second opinions, our lawyers will be available to provide you with all the information that you need to pursue your claim (even if you have already started your claim elsewhere). Our free consultations and free second opinions are available as part of our Zero- Fee guarantee; our guarantee ensures that our clients never have to pay for upfront legal expenses. Our firm is also based on a contingency structure; therefore, our clients will only be required to pay anything after reaching a positive outcome. If you would like to benefit from our free legal services and discuss your claim with our premise liability experts with experience in claims against stores and malls, do not hesitate to contact us today; we are ready to handle your wrongful death claim.