Two lawsuits have been filed following the tragic deaths of two boys in separate automatic garage door accidents.
Seven-year-old Dedric “D.T.” Holt and 6-year-old Jacob Alexander Joseph both died after they got stuck in automated gates in the garage of their apartment complexes, according to reports.
Dedric was playing with his cousins in the parking garage of the Metro Development and Housing Agency apartments near the 800 block of South Sixth Street on June 11, 2020, in Nashville, Tennessee when the children began turning the garage door switch on and off.
The gate rolled up with Dedric caught in the gate, crushing his head and body inside. He was on life support at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt until July 1 with severe anoxic brain damage before the decision was made to remove him from life support to end his suffering.
Executive Director of the Metro Development and Housing Agency, Jim Harbison, released a statement following Dedric’s death.
“Ever since the tragic accident on June 11, MDHA staff have been hoping and praying that Dedric would make a full recovery,” Harbison told the Nashville Tennessean. “We are absolutely heartbroken by this morning’s devastating news. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends and all who knew and loved him, including many of our staff.”
Jacob died on June 4, 2021, after the garage gate he was playing on at his apartment complex in Kissimmee, Florida, rolled up. Jacob was holding onto the automated gate when it rolled up.
Attorneys for the family said that no sound alarms or sensors shut the gate down and Jacob was caught in the gate. A witness reportedly tried to rescue the 6-year-old to no avail.
“I’m going to go through this for a while,” Douglas Skogland told WESH2. “It comes and goes. I’ve seen some stuff, but this was a 6-year-old kid.”
Jacob was also placed on life support but ultimately did not survive….
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