Image courtesy Meeks Partners architectural firm
As thunderstorms blew through our city Wednesday afternoon, a Dallas County jury decided to award more than $860 million to the family of a young woman who died in an East Dallas-area apartment building during a severe weather event four years ago.
Kiersten Smith, 29, was fatally injured when high winds caused a construction crane to crash through the Elan City Lights apartment building on Live Oak at Good Latimer June 9, 2019.
Other residents who lost property or endured injuries during the horrific incident also have sued property owners, Greystar.
Smith’s parents were the first to go to trial. Five other victims were injured that day, and some 500 residents reportedly were displaced.
After the decision was read, Jason Itkin, the attorney representing Smith’s mother, Michele Williams, told reporters outside the courtroom that although “every day is a hard day” for the family of the deceased, they are pleased that “Greystar was forced to take responsibility and accountability.”
The jury reportedly awarded nothing specifically for Smith’s pain or suffering, stating that they could not determine if she experienced pain before she died. But jurors acknowledged the extreme emotional pain and anguish of the victim’s parents, awarding her mother $340 million ($140 million for mental anguish, $50 million for future mental anguish, $50 million for loss of companionship and $100 million for future loss of companionship) plus $12,006. That amount, which Itkin had asked the jury to consider adding, represented Smith’s last address, at apartment 12006.
Smith’s father James Kirkwood was awarded $20 million ($7 million for mental anguish, $4 million for future mental anguish, $3 million for loss of companionship and $6 million for future loss of companionship).
Jurors awarded the estate of Kiersten Smith an additional $500,000,000 in exemplary damages.
When the accident occurred, the crane was operating at a construction area across the street from the Elan City Lights building, but that site was also owned by Greystar. The only other company involved was the crane company, Bigge Crane and Rigging Co., which also was named in the suit, but which ultimately were not held responsible.
During the trial, defendants pointed to crane-operator error, but the decision hinged on which company was liable for that worker’s employment, per KERA News.
In opening statements, plaintiff attorney Itkin said Smith and her fiancé Eric Ridenhour were having lunch in apartment 12006 when the floor seemingly fell out from beneath them. Ridenhour dragged his betrothed from the rubble. She died at the hospital.
In summer 2021, two years after the fatal accident, Greystar started construction to rebuild the Elan City Lights complex. “We have spent the past two years thoughtfully assessing the best future use for this property,” Elan City Lights said in a written statement to the DMN at the time. “The apartment homes and common areas that were most damaged by the crane collapse will be completely reconstructed.”
When Elan City Lights opened in 2015, the paper reported that Greystar “is one of the country’s top apartment builders, with more than 200,000 rental units in 100 markets.”
The company has so far declined to comment on Wednesday’s decision.
