Family of Elderly Couple Who Died in Boone Hotel Room File Lawsuit
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CHARLOTTE, NC – “I don’t ever want anybody to have to go through what we went through. Totally avoidable,” says Doug Jenkins. Jenkins and his sister Kris say the careless actions of employees and management at a Boone hotel led to their parents’ death.
“I certainly never anticipated that when I said goodbye to them on the 12th that that would be the last time I would ever see them,” says Kris Hauschildt.
The family is suing Best Western International, among others including AJD Investments, which owns the hotel on King Street, and Appalachian Hospitality Management.
Investigators say a faulty pool heater is to blame for the deaths of Daryl and Shirley Mae Jenkins inside room 225 in April 2013. Two months later 11-year-old Jeffrey Williams from Rock Hill died in the same room.
The Jenkins are seeking more than $10,000 in damages. They also want to see a national effort to require carbon monoxide detectors in all hotel rooms. The deaths prompted a change to state law, which now requires CO alarms in certain parts of hotels.
The president of Appalachian Hospitality, Barry Mallatere, is awaiting trial in Watagua County. A grand jury indicted him last year on three counts of involuntary manslaughter and one count of assault inflicting serious bodily injury.
