NEW ORLEANS — The family of the 16-year-old boy who was crushed by a falling oak tree in Jackson Square last week will be pursuing legal action against the city, according to our partners at NOLA.com.
The teen remains in intensive care with a serious brain injury. The family's attorney, Morris Bart, said the city should have roped off the area where the incident happened beforehand because a smaller part of the tree had snapped off more than a week earlier.
“They were on notice when the first limb fell that there’s a defect in the tree. It’s gross negligence, in my opinion, not to put yellow tape around the tree. That’s the very least they could do,” Bart said. “You don’t have to be a lawyer to see the obvious neglect.”
Bart said he expects to file a lawsuit by the end of next week, and that the family does not want to be identified until then.
“They asked, number one, for their privacy as they deal with what happened. Also, they asked for people's prayers,” Bart said.
Bart did not specify what damages the teen's family was seeking, but said they would be "aggressively" litigating the matter.
NOLA.com had reached out to Mayor LaToya Cantrell's administration for comment but had not heard back at the time of the writing of this article.
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