WINFIELD – The executor of a woman's estate blames the Teays Valley Volunteer Fire Department for her death.
Derek Miles on behalf of the estate of Loretta Frances Payton filed the complaint in Putnam Circuit Court against the Teays Valley VFD Inc. Miles is Payton's nephew.
According to the complaint, 81-year-old Payton was dizzy and weak from a urinary tract infection on November 17, 2021. She called 911, and the Teays Valley VFD responded. They founded her sitting on her toilet. When the firefighters went to pick her up, the complaint says they dropped her on the floor and broke her leg.
"But for her broken leg, Ms. Payton likely would have returned home after spending only a week in the hospital for treatment of her urinary tract infection," the complaint states. "However, because of her broken leg, Ms. Payton would never return to her home."
The complaint says she required surgery to repair the leg and was confined to multiple 24-hour health care facilities when she was treated for resulting injuries.
Payton died November 8, 2022, almost a year after the incident.
The estate seeks compensatory damages for Payton's injuries, her care and treatment, her pain and suffering and her funeral expenses. It also seeks punitive damages, pre- and post-judgment interests, attorney fees, court costs and other relief as well as damages for sorrow, mental anguish and solace of her survivors.
The estate is being represented by Richard E. Holtzapfel of Holtzapfel Law Offices in Hurricane and by D. Scott Tyree of Tyree Embree & Associates in Hurricane.
Putnam Circuit Court case number 23-C-172