Stephanie Martinez, 3, of Las Vegas, fell five stories to her death at an Anaheim hotel while on a Disneyland vacation with her family.
The incident occurred the evening of July 20, 2015 at the Embassy Suites in the 3100 block of East Frontera Street.
Police say the girl either squeezed through the bars of the railing at the hotel or climbed over it and fell from a fifth-story walkway.
Officials said Stephanie’s family was staying at the hotel and some of the family was Continue reading →
An apartment balcony collapsed early morning June 16, 2015 in downtown Berkeley, killing six people and injured at least seven others, many of them young people from Ireland who were celebrating a friend’s 21st birthday.
According to an NBC news report, the balcony on the top floor of the four-story Library Gardens apartment building at 2020 Kittredge Street detached from the wall sending victims tumbling to the street.
Four people died at the scene and two others succumbed to their injuries at a local hospital. Continue reading →
No matter how careful you are, it is possible you will be involved in some type of slip and fall accident in your lifetime. According to the latest data, at least one million people are involved in slip and fall accidents every year, and many of these accidents can lead to terrible injuries including broken hips, broken limbs, and even traumatic head injuries. Orange County slip and fall lawyers often represent victims who have suffered life-changing trauma due to a “simple” slip and fall accident.
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A 64-year-old woman in a wheelchair died a day after she fell down an escalator at a Metro station. According to a KTLA news report, the incident occurred at the Hollywood/Highland Metro Red Line station on October 16, 2012. Officials say the elevator from the mezzanine area to the street level was not functioning, prompting the woman and her caregiver to take the escalator. Shortly afterward, the escalator malfunctioned sending both women tumbling backwards. The woman in the wheelchair suffered severe head trauma and died a day later. The 48-year-old caregiver suffered cuts and bruises, but is expected to recover. It is not clear if she will face charges in connection with the incident.
I offer my deepest condolences to the family members and friends of this woman who has been tragically killed here. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.
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A 4-year-old boy nearly drowned in a Los Angeles swimming pool accident that occurred during a gathering at a Woodland Hills home. According to a CBS Los Angeles news report, the near-drowning incident happened at a home on Burbank Boulevard in Woodland Hills, the evening of May 12, 2012. Officials have not released information regarding the circumstances of the accident, how long the child was underwater, or if there was adult supervision around the pool at the time. The child was airlifted to a nearby medical center where he was listed in fair condition.
My thoughts and prayers are with this young victim and his family. I wish him the very best for a speedy and complete recovery.
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Twelve students and two teachers at the North Orange County Regional Occupational Program building in Anaheim were taken to the hospital with injuries after the roof of the adult classrooms collapsed on December 15, 2008 because a main drain failed. According to this news report in The Orange County Register, the injured victims suffered neck, back, muscular, skeletal and wrist injuries.
Officials are saying that the roof caved in after a main drain failed above one of the classrooms. This caused water to collect and the roof to cave in taking an air-conditioning unit down with it. The injured victims were said to have been between 17 and 50 years old. A 50-year-old female teacher had to be rescued after she was trapped under the debris.
I’m relieved that this Anaheim roof collapse did not result in catastrophic injuries. My heart goes out to everyone who was injured and possibly traumatized by this horrific incident. I wish all of the injured victims a complete and quick recovery – both physically and emotionally.
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Two young girls were killed and another was critically injured in an apartment fire at 1052 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave., Long Beach, California early Friday morning. Long Beach firefighters knocked out the fire within five minutes of their arrival. The fire inside the converted garage apartment was reportedly caused by a portable heater. This is all according to an article in the Press Telegram.
The three sisters were immediately taken to Memorial Medical Center. Stephanie Aviles, 6-years-old and her sister Jasmine Aviles, 10, died there. Friday afternoon, Jocelyn Aviles, 7-years-old, was transferred to Torrance Memorial Medical Center’s burn unit which is much better equipped to treat Jocelyn and the only true burn center in the southern region of Los Angeles County.
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Investigators are still trying to determine what caused a roaring fire that swept through an apartment complex Saturday night killing a teenage couple and three young children. The fire also destroyed the home and personal belongings of a number of residents of the building.
According to an article in the Fresno Bee newspaper, the horrific tragedy struck in the wee hours of the morning taking the lives of the couple – Derek Fabian and his fiancée, Michelle Mattison; their 2-month-old daughter, Hayden and two other children who were there for a sleep over – Mattison’s siblings, Lexus Bisnar, 4, and her 2-year-old brother, Ariel.
Firefighters have been unable to explain why the five victims were not able to get out of the second floor apartment. Other residents of the building escaped unharmed. The fire didn’t take too long to spread because the apartments had shingle roofs and plywood siding, fire officials said. Neighbors told the newspaper that the apartment did have smoke detectors and that the apartment managers inspected them regularly.
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