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LINCOLN — An Omaha woman who lost her husband and son in an apartment fire can sue for damages, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled today.
The ruling overturns a lower court's dismissal of the lawsuit, which was filed by Maria Ofelia Corona de Camargo.
She lost her husband, Joaquin, 41, and son Cristobal, 12, in the 2006 fire at the Colonial House Apartments at 22nd and K Streets in south Omaha.
Gloria Castillo Garcia, 29, and her 19-month-old son, Jesus Antonio Garcia, also died in the blaze, which was the deadliest in two decades in Omaha.
Douglas County District Judge Joseph Troia ruled that Corona's wrongful-death lawsuit against the then-owners of the apartment building was filed too late — three days after the two-year statute of limitations ran out.
But the Supreme Court said the judge erred in also dismissing Corona's claims about the pain and suffering her loved ones endured before they died. The statute of limitations on such lawsuits is four years, the court said.
One of Corona's attorneys, Kevin McCoy, said he was confident that the high court would reverse the ruling. “We thought the Nebraska law was fairly clear,” McCoy said.
Justice Michael McCormack, who wrote today's ruling, said the court concluded that claims for pre-death suffering and for wrongful death are distinct and separate.
Thus, he said, they should be governed by the distinct statutes of limitation for the two types of lawsuits.
The ruling means that Corona's lawsuit for pain and suffering will return to Douglas County for a trial.
Francie Riedmann, one of the attorneys who represented Arthur and Mary Schon, who owned the apartments at the time of the fire, declined to comment on the ruling.
General Fire and Safety Equipment Co. is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit. The company had inspected smoke detectors in the apartment a few months before the Aug. 1, 2006, fire.
Omaha investigators considered the cause of the fire suspicious.
Contact the writer:
402-473-9584, paul.hammel@owh.com
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