Wednesday, August 1, 2012

The parents of two children killed in a house fire filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a Wichita company.

Four people died in the blaze after a fire broke out near a radiator in the Scott City home March 10.

The victims were Jackie Coberly, 28, her four-year-old son, Terra Murphy, 8 and Cassie Murphy, 6. The girls were the daughter’s of Coberly’s boyfriend, Jeff Murphy.

The lawsuit claims that the company was under contractual obligation to provide 24-hour care for Coberly because of her disability.

It also claims that the scheduled caregiver from the company was an hour late for her shift, which is why no-one else was there when the fire broke out.

The lawsuit also blames the landlords of the home for not providing smoke detectors for the house. The Murphys hope the suit will help toughen state laws regarding working smoke detectors in rental properties.

KAKE’s Deb Farris is working on this story. She will have more on later KAKE newscasts.