ST. LOUIS COUNTY — The mother of the 5-year-old boy who was killed when a tree crashed through his family’s home during a storm in Jennings last year is suing the rental property’s owner and manager.
LaWanda “Nina†Thomas’ wrongful-death lawsuit claims that the two companies were responsible for a “large, overgrown, (and) decaying†tree on the property that was struck by lightning and toppled onto her rental home during a huge storm on July 1, 2023.
Her son, 5-year-old Robert “RJ†Lawrence III, was lying on his bed when he was killed, the lawsuit said. The tree fell on the house, “crashing through his bedroom, pinning him between the ceiling and floor, crushing him to death.â€
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RJ died two weeks before his sixth birthday.
The suit comes more than a year after savage storms lashed the ºüÀêÊÓƵ region, toppling trees, knocking out power lines and seeding minor flash flooding. The tempest overwhelmed 911 call centers, highlighting in particular the city’s yearslong struggle to pick up enough calls in a manner consistent with national standards — something the city has since vastly improved.
Thomas’ suit, filed last week, lists Maryrose Properties 9 Oh LLC and Tiptop Property Management LLC as defendants. Neither company could be reached for comment Monday.
Thomas claims the companies were “careless and negligent†by not maintaining the property properly and that they created a “foreseeable risk of harm†by not repairing or removing the tree.
She said her foot was also seriously injured when the tree crashed into their home. Thomas said she’s paid more than $5,000 for medical treatment and will need future treatment, as well.
Thomas’ lawyer, Jermaine Wooten, did not immediately return a call for comment.
But Thomas told the Post-Dispatch last summer that it took her 45 minutes to get ahold of emergency services after the tree came crashing through her home. She said RJ was alive when she first tried to call 911.
A friend of hers eventually drove to a police station herself to ask for help.
The delayed response mirrored a similar incident during the same storm in ºüÀêÊÓƵ, where a woman also died after a tree fell on her car near the city’s Grove entertainment district. Onlookers said emergency response was slow to arrive, something government officials later attributed to the deluge of calls.
Maryrose Properties is based out of Ohio and owns the bungalow-style home in the 5200 block of Hamilton Avenue in Jennings, but records on when the company purchased the property were not available. The last publicly available deed shows the house was sold in April 2016 to a company called DBD Investments LLC, which has an office in Belleville.
Tip Top Property Management is headquartered in Creve Coeur and markets itself as “local market experts, and ºüÀêÊÓƵ natives, (offering) full-service leasing and property management services.†Thomas’ lawsuit said the company managed the Hamilton Avenue property for Maryrose when she lived there.
Thomas is asking for a verdict of more than $25,000.