TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Family Files Lawsuit Over Injury Of Tot At BayWalk

News Channel 8 photo by TODD DAVIS

Attorney John Bales addresses the media on behalf of the Wineberger family about the lawsuit they filed against BayWalk in connection with their 4-year-old son Josiah who was seriously injured last year when a speaker fell on his head.

ADVERTISEMENT

By STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 16, 2008

Updated: 01/16/2008 04:14 pm

ST. PETERSBURG - The family of a boy seriously injured last year when a speaker fell on his head at BayWalk is seeking millions of dollars in damages, their attorney said this morning, moments after he filed a lawsuit in the courthouse in downtown St. Petersburg.

Josiah Wineberger, then 3, was eating ice cream at the downtown retail and entertainment complex Feb. 23 when a 40- to 70-pound speaker fell from a second-story balcony and landed on the boy's head.

"This case is really about common sense," said attorney John Bales. "You don't need experts to understand that you don't put a multi-pound speaker on a second floor above an area where the public is walking."

According to a copy of the 23-page suit, the Wineberger family is suing the Sembler Co., which built the $40 million complex and operates it; Jane's World Entertainment, which booked the band that owned the speaker; and the band itself. The name of the band is Hart-Jackson-Watson, and its members are Cleo Hart, John Jackson and Frederick Watson, according to the lawsuit.

The Sembler Co. declined comment.

"In all of our discussions with Josiah's family, our focus has been the care and recovery of Josiah, and that continues to be our main concern," the company said in a statement. "It is our company's practice, as with most other companies, that we do not comment on pending legal matters."

Jane McKee, owner of Jane's World Entertainment, said she, too, was declining comment. When reached at his home, John Jackson said he was unaware of the lawsuit. A man answering the phone at Frederick Watson's home said he wasn't in. Cleo Hart could not be reached.

The injury shattered the boy's skull and damaged his brain, Bales said. Part of his brain remains exposed and the child might have to undergo what would be his third surgery to address that. He wears a small football helmet to protect his head.

Josiah is partially paralyzed on his right side, often dragging his right foot, and a therapist is teaching him how to be left-handed, Josiah's father, John, said. Josiah also has speech difficulties and undergoes mood swings, sometimes kicking, biting and pinching people when he didn't before, John Wineberger said. The boy is in physical therapy four days a week.

"He'll never be 100 percent again," John Wineberger said. "He'll have to continue therapy for the rest of his life."

"It does make me sad," said Josiah's mother Zenaida, "because there are a lot of things that Josiah wanted to do that he'd tell us that he'd see on TV, 'I want to do that.' It breaks my heart because he can't do that any more."

The Winebergers, who also have three other children, did not have health insurance at the time of the accident, for themselves or their children, Bales said. John lost his job at an electronics distribution company because he spent so much time tending to his son's medical care, and now he runs a hot dog stand three nights a week. The family also had to move into a smaller, less costly apartment, and two children had to be taken out of day care because the family could no longer afford it, he said.

Bales would not say what, if any, communication there has been between the Wineberger family and the Sembler Co. since Josiah was injured. He described the lawsuit filing as a measure of last resort.

"The family needs answers," Bales said. "The only way they can find the answers is by filing a lawsuit. They did so today.

"Will BayWalk take responsibility for these actions?" he asked.

The lawsuit says the Winebergers are seeking damages in excess of $15,000. "Let's face it," Bales said. "It'll be millions."

News Channel 8 reporter Rod Challenger contributed to this report. Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT