One teen charged, another killed after the two were playing with a loaded gun at an apartment in Broward County, officials say.
The incident happened around 2:30 p.m. Monday. The teen who was hit was identified by police in reporting by The Miami Herald as 16-year-old Christopher Granados. He was taken to the hospital by emergency responders where he was pronounced dead.
The other boy involved in the incident, who was not named, was charged Tuesday with manslaughter.
Leesfield & Partners, through its leading verdicts and results, has established a 43-year reputation representing injured clients throughout Florida, nationally and internationally. Our goal remains to resolve cases and bring financial security to injured clients. Representative of 2017 are the following results: (This is a partial list with the full compilation found in our website at this link)
A 14-year-old boy from Miami-Dade County who sustained extensive injuries to his leg caused by the defective bicycle bar handle manufactured in China. This case is set for trial.
A 61-year-old Miami Beach resident awarded $450,000 as a result of his toe being crushed and amputated when a negligently installed marble counter at a residential building collapsed on his foot.
When we are engaged to represent a client and take on their case we become their advocate and we fight for them because they cannot. We give a voice to the voiceless. We fight for the injured. We champion their cause and their case with every resource and every ounce of talent and energy we have. We do this because, not only is it the right thing to do, but also because each client and each relationship we have with our clients is personal. We truly believe that our clients remain clients for life long after the case is resolved and long after we have achieved a financial recovery for them.
Just recently we resolved the case of a motorcycle accident victim who lost a leg as a result of a county employee running a stop sign. The inattentive driver rolled his truck up to the stop sign clueless to crossing traffic and our client’s oncoming motorcycle and blew right through the intersection without thinking twice. Our client had no choice but to lay down his bike to avoid a head on crash with the side of the truck and certain death. Unfortunately, the back wheels rolled over his leg resulting in a traumatic amputation at the knee. We undertook representation knowing full well that any real recovery was highly unlikely given that the negligent party was a county employee protected by the state sovereign immunity cap of just $200,000. With past hospital bills alone of over $400,000 we rejected the county’s settlement offer of $200,000. After two years of litigation, multiple lawsuits and incredibly creative and aggressive representation, we secured a multi-million dollar settlement for our client.
Today we handed him his first of several settlement checks. A very humble man, our client started to thank us but we stopped him from any such praise. The true thanks goes out to him and his resolve and for believing in us and giving us the honor of fighting for him. When we met, he was just coming out of surgery where he lost his leg. We were up front and honest with him about the financial obstacles that his case faced with sovereign immunity. We saw him crying and hopeless and full of anxiety about the future. With that we went to work and devoted two years to fight for him and obtain justice for our client. Through the case, we saw him fight through depression and readjusting to life as an amputee. It was his resolve that pushed us every day and knowing that he was fighting to regain his life, we would fight for him no matter what it took.
The vast majority of personal injury victims contact a lawyer intending to make claims against a specific entity for a specific wrongdoing. The victims often evaluate their case and form their own theories of liability before they are ever guided by an experienced trial lawyer. Unfortunately, many lawyers then evaluate cases based on their clients’ impressions without broadening their imagination and looking at the entire picture.
Our firm was recently contacted by a mother in reference to a potential medical malpractice case for her 12-year-old son. Our client’s concern was that her son underwent surgery to repair his fractured femur (thigh bone) with metal rods, and the metal rods ultimately broke free from the bone, requiring a painful second surgery. Our client thought this complication occurred because the first surgery was done negligently. Our firm investigated and concluded that the complication was likely an inherent risk of surgery rather than negligence.
For many lawyers, the evaluation would have ended there. However, our firm inquired further and asked how the boy’s leg was fractured. Our client believed that was a dead end. She explained that the injury occurred when a 13-year-old girl accidentally fell on him at the girl’s house. As we learned more, it was discovered that the girl, who was much larger than the boy, had been physically harassing him for several days with unwanted horseplay. The girl’s father, who was supposed to be supervising them, knew of this abuse and failed to prevent it or separate the children. Our firm made a claim against the father’s homeowner’s insurance policy under a Negligent Supervision theory. Within just days of receiving our lawsuit, the insurance carrier offered their full policy limits of $300,000, to compensate our client’s son.
Yesterday, we reported on the tragic accident that took the life of a bicyclist and seriously injured another in a hit and run accident that occurred in Key Biscayne in the early morning hours.
In the last 24 hours, police has released additional information on what caused the accident, and the identities of the people involved. 21-year-old Alejandro Alvarez was arrested by police after he admitted to running over bicyclists Walter Reyes, and Henry Hernandez. Walter Reyes succumbed to his injuries at the scene, while Henry Hernandez was emergently taken to Mercy Hospital for serious physical injuries. Henry is said to be in stable condition at this time.
Upon admitting being at the wheels of the 2014 VW Jetta involved in the incident, Alvarez was arrested by police. He is currently behind bars and facing multiple criminal charges, including manslaughter and driving under the influence.
Last August, Adele Bearman went to Holy Cross Hospital to have routine surgery. Leesfield & Partners, Ira Leesfield, said in an interview to the Miami Herald and other news outlet: “While they were doing this rather routine surgery, there was a leak from the oxygen mask into the environment. The surgeon, anesthesiologist, and the hospital employees didn’t communicate with each other. There was an explosion. She literally caught on fire in the operating room.”
A lawsuit was filed on March 4 against Holy Cross and other multiple doctors whom the complaint alleges they were negligent in this action. The complaint reads that “during the operative procedure Mrs. Bearman was supposed to undergo, Dr. Pasternak was the anesthesiologist who was responsible for providing MAC anesthesia to this patient. Dr. Pasternak was providing oxygen, via facemask, at 8 liters per minute at the time. Dr. Bermudez was utilizing electrocautery in close proximity to the flow of oxygen. Dr. Pasternak and Dr. Bermudez failed to communicate with each other concerning the utilization of oxygen via face mask and electrocautery in the proximity with the oxygen and as such created a dangerous, negligent and unsafe condition.”
The complaint further alleges that “during the arterial biopsy performed by Dr. Bermudez, there occurred an operative fire caused by the combination of the presence of excessive oxygen and electrocautery with said fire causing burns to the face and additional burns on the chest, oral and nasal mucosal surfaces of Adele Bearman causing substantial pain, suffering, scarring, disfigurement, loss of ability to enjoy life, and serious bodily injury for which substantial care and treatment was required from her date of injury to her date of death.”
At dawn this morning in Miami, a Chevy pick-up truck traveling eastbound on Northeast 15th Street, in downtown Miami, was t-boned by a white Daimler SMART car traveling southbound on Biscayne Boulevard. One of the investigators told the media that it is believed the driver of the SMART car failed to stop at a stop sign or a red light, which was the cause for the two vehicle to collide at such a high rate of speed.
The incident occurred at approximately 4:45am on Wednesday August 14, 2013. The passenger of the SMART car, a young woman in her twenties was fatally injured and died at the scene. The driver of the SMART car was critically injured and rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital. The condition of the driver of the pick-up truck remain unknown but reporters have shared that there are serious concerns he may have sustained a catastrophic spinal cord injury and may be paralyzed. (Photo on the left courtesy of Miami Herald)
The SMART car involved in this incident, whose driver was supposedly at fault, was a CAR2GO vehicle. According to the company’s website, CAR2GO is a mobility program launched in Austin, Texas back in November 2009. The company provides a fleet of free-floating vehicles distributed all over the city. Individuals who become members of CAR2GO have the ability to use any vehicle from the CAR2GO fleet at any time.
On May 15, 2013, County employee Alfredo Menendez was placed on leave for ramming his county truck into several stopped vehicle, causing a pileup accident at the intersection of Flagler and Lejeune Road in Miami. According to reports in the local media, witnesses saw the county truck run a red light and crash into a vehicle before swerving off the road and slam into a bus bench on Lejeune Road. The violence of the crash and the speed at which the county truck is alleged to have been traveling at the time caused a chain reaction of collisions which involved a total of seven vehicles.
Paramedics confirmed that three people were waiting at the bus stop at the time of the crash. Ambulances and firefighters were dispatched to the scene immediately. In all, five people – including the county truck driver – were transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital. One victim, 80-year-old Transito Lopez, reportedly lost a leg in the accident. His family has yet to visit with their relative who is said to be in critical condition and in a coma.
While the police investigation is still ongoing, several witnesses have come forward and shared what they saw. One person whose vehicle was involved and damaged in this accident said that the driver was not paying attention: “Very simple, that truck was on the phone, it was obvious he didn’t see the red light. How can you be going 60 miles 300 yards before a red light.”
A life-altering collision for at least 2 young women occurred this morning at approximately 2:30 a.m. on Coral Way and SW 84th Avenue in Westchester, Florida, when their vehicle collided an 18-wheeler tractor trailer, driven by Larry Donell Robinson.
Larry Robinson was lucky to walk away from this accident without a scratch, but sadly for the occupants of the white Honda Accord, they all were rushed to Kendall Regional Medical Center.
We have since learned that the driver of the Honda, Alexandria Estrella, 23, and Ana Posada, 18, are in critical conditions and still fighting for their lives. The other three passengers identified by police as Jovanni Oliva, Anthony Emmanuel Del Rio, and Moises Arnold Alvarez were also injured, but not critically.
Each year, an average of 61,000 carbon monoxide poisoning incidents occur in the United States, resulting in more than 30% of victims to be treated for carbon monoxide exposure. More importantly, an estimated 480 people die every year because of the silent killer that is carbon monoxide. (Statistics by the National Fire Protection Association can be found here)
This past weekend in New York, forty-two students residing on the Long Island, New York campus of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy were hospitalized and treated for carbon monoxide poisoning after the gas leak was found after 9 p.m. Sunday night. When the gas leak was discovered, students and residents of the Academy’s Barry Hall were asked to evacuate the building – a total of 150 students were evacuated as a precaution without incident.
The law firm of Leesfield & Partners and our carbon monoxide attorneys are all too familiar with carbon monoxide poisoning incidents and their catastrophic effects on poisoned victims. Recently, Ira Leesfield and attorneys at Leesfield & Partners represented over a dozen families who had been exposed to carbon monoxide during their stay at a Key West Resort. That incident resulted in the wrongful death of a young man and injuries to several other guests. The investigation led by the Florida Division of State Fire Marshal noted in its report that two of the boilers of the resort had not been inspected where in Florida, boilers of that size and type were required to be inspected every two years. The failure to have these boilers inspected prevented the resort from discovering clear evidence of soot accumulating on the outer part of the shroud that covers the burners, as well as soot found along the bottom wall, floor and behind the boilers.
Investigators also determined that there was a large 90-degree elbow aimed towards the east into the prevailing winds on the roof. This alteration caused a back draft down the exhausting vent preventing the proper exhaust of carbon monoxide. Therefore, as the back pressure increased in the exhaust pipe it reduced the availability of oxygen to the burners causing an incomplete combustion at the burner level. It turned what would normally be a blue flame into a yellow-orange flame causing the creation of carbon monoxide and soot/smoke. This in turn caused an excessive amount of carbon monoxide build up in the boiler room.
To further compound the problem, the carbon monoxide could not escape the boiler room due to the boarding up of the louvers on the boiler room doors, which were designed to permit proper air circulation. This prevented the complete combustion from occurring and prevented the escape of carbon monoxide. As the concentration of carbon monoxide grew in the boiler room it further prevented ambient air from entering the boiler room. During this time, the furnace continued to consume the remaining oxygen in the boiler room until it self-extinguished causing the boilers to automatically shut down.
After several months of litigation, these carbon monoxide victims entered into a confidential settlement with the resort for their injuries.
More recently, the firm represented students who were exposed to carbon monoxide poisoning while sleeping in a university house. The investigation led by the local Fire Department confirmed that, upon entry, readings taken in the main section of the house showed over 200 ppm of Carbon Monoxide. With such elevated and dangerous readings, the investigation halted to let the ventilation process continue. When it was safe to resume, the investigators found that the exhaust pipe for the gas furnace that was heating the house was not exhausting the carbon monoxide, which led to a gas build up throughout the house.
Because our law firm continues to represent victims of carbon monoxide poisoning, Leesfield & Partners became the voice of Florida victims of CO exposure. Due to the relentless efforts of former Florida Justice Association (FJA) President Ira Leesfield, Senate Bill 1822 was adopted, and became effective July 1, 2008.
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