In 2022, a tragic and preventable incident claimed the life of a young autistic boy who was struck by a vehicle on a main road just outside his apartment complex. The child had exited the property through a broken vehicle gate that had been left open and unrepaired.
Attorneys Michael Haggard and Adam Finkel of The Haggard Law Firm filed a wrongful death lawsuit against both the driver of the vehicle and the property owners and managers of the apartment complex, holding them accountable for the conditions that allowed this tragedy to occur.
Plaintiff(s), Defendant(s), and location of tragedy are confidential due to terms of the settlement
Research consistently shows that children with special needs—particularly those with autism—require additional protections from their surrounding environment. This is why premises liability laws and safety standards place a legal responsibility on property owners and managers to maintain safe conditions for all residents, especially vulnerable populations.
In this case, The Haggard Law Firm emphasized that the property managers explicitly assured the victim’s family that the complex’s gates would be fully operational by the time they moved in. That promise was never fulfilled. The attorneys argued that had the gates been functioning as promised, the child would not have been able to access the busy roadway, and the fatal accident would have been avoided.
Notably, the defendants all denied liability, and argued that the child might not have left through the vehicle gate, but instead a pedestrian gate elsewhere on the property. The defendant-property managers also denied having promised the family that the gates would be repaired before they moved in.
Ultimately, the case was resolved with a $2.775 million settlement. The young victim is survived by his two loving parents, who bravely pursued justice not only for their son, but to help ensure greater accountability and safety for other children in similar situations
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