Woman sues landlord over carbon monoxide injuries

YOUNGSTOWN

A woman who said she and her three minor children were sleepy and suffered headaches due to carbon-monoxide poisoning caused by a defective furnace has sued her former landlord.

Shnell Echols, of East Boston Avenue, sued Mark King of Lowellville and the M.A.C.K. Property Group he owns concerning the April 27, 2013, incident at M.A.C.K.’s property at 337 E. Lucius Ave., which Echols rented.

When Echols was moving into the house in February 2013, the gas company inspected and red-tagged the faulty furnace and shut off its gas supply, according to the lawsuit filed Wednesday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

A M.A.C.K. employee negligently tried to repair the furnace, removed the red tag and turned the gas back on, the suit said.

Youngstown police and firefighters arrived and found the occupants standing in the yard April 27, with the children, age 8, 13 and 15, about to be taken to Akron Children’s Hospital.

Even with the windows and both doors open, firefighters said they recorded 20 parts per million of carbon monoxide in the house 10 minutes after their arrival.

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