By Sheena McFarland
The Salt Lake Tribune
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — The family of a 10-year-old boy who died in an apartment fire in January is suing the owners of the apartment for not ensuring the smoke detectors were working.
A blaze erupted near the family’s artificial Christmas tree in their living room at Royal Garden Apartments at 236 E. 3560 South. Jackson Avery was sleeping in the room, and despite heavy smoke, the smoke alarms never went off, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges that had the smoke detectors properly worked, the boy would have been awakened and able to escape. Instead, he died from burns and smoke inhalation, the lawsuit states.
The boy’s mother, Tonya Avery, and the boy’s brother, Steven Avery, are suing for burial costs as well as undisclosed amounts for pain and suffering, wrongful death and “an inability to enjoy life as previously enjoyed.”
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