HUNTINGTON — A man is blaming Amazon.com for his mother's death after a fire broke out in their home from an alleged faulty product.
Amazon.com Inc.; Dongguan Guanhong Electrical Technology Co. Ltd.; Shenzhen Henglide Industrial Co. Ltd.; Dongguan Guanshun Industrial Co. Ltd.; and Jiangsu Yitong Control System Co. Ltd. were all named as defendants in the suit.
Dion Adkins, the administrator of the estate of Drema M. Adkins, purchased a heated pet bed from Amazon.com on Jan. 13, 2018, for his mother and Drema Adkins placed the pet bed in her home for her cats to lie on, according to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.
Dion Adkins claims his mother lived with him and on Feb. 16, 2020, the pet bed was in its usual location on the couch cushion in the downstairs living room when Drema Adkins went to sleep in her bedroom.
In the early morning hours of Feb. 17, 2020, Drema Adkins and Dion Adkins awoke to smoke alarms and Dion Adkins went downstairs and discovered the pet bed had caught fire, according to the suit.
Dion Adkins claims the fire grew quickly and his mother was trapped upstairs. He attempted to reach his mother's bedroom from the outside by climbing a drainpipe, but the drainpipe broke in the process and when the fire department arrived, it was discovered she had passed away from smoke inhalation.
The plaintiff claims the defendants are responsible for Drema Adkins' wrongful death and had a duty to repair any defects to the pet bed that were known or discoverable in the exercise of ordinary care.
"Amazon.com undertook to perform services for the manufacturers and foreign sellers/distributors of the Pet Bed by allowing the Pet Bed to be marketed for sale on its sales website, in exchange for compensation," the complaint states. "In doing so, Amazon.com undertook to market and sell the Pet Bed to United States consumers, like Plaintiff. Amazon.com knew, or should have known, that the manufacturers and foreign sellers/distributors were Chinese entities that could not be identified, served with process and/or be reached for recovery of a judgment in the case of defective product injuring a United States consumer."
The plaintiff is seeking compensatory damages. He is represented by Holly S. Planinsic of Herndon Morton Herndon & Yaeger in Wheeling; and William N. Haacker and Brent Phelps of Paranjpe Mahadass Ruemke in Houston, Texas.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number: 3:22-cv-00083
