Posted on 01/16/2007 12:42:49 PM PST by madprof98
When a U.S. military helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan, Georgia native Gerry Neel and his elite unit were sent in to rescue survivors.
Gunfire rained down, killing three of Neel's buddies. Back at the barracks, Neel mourned the deaths of his fellow Airborne Rangers while clutching a laminated photo of his wife and son —- his comfort amid the chaos of war.
An hour after he finally fell asleep, he was awakened with dreadful news: His 20-month-old son, Hunter, had fallen to his death from the ninth-floor balcony of a downtown Atlanta hotel.
It took Neel three days to get from Afghanistan to his family's home in Savannah, where he would prepare to bury his only child —- and learn that his marriage was in shambles.
"All that I could think about when I was over there was getting back to my family," Neel, now 32, said during a recent interview. "I was pretty much in shock. It took me a long time to sort out everything. ... I'm pretty much damaged goods now."
Neel's wife —- who's now his ex-wife —- was taking a limo ride with her male friend when Hunter fell to his death.
More than four years later, a lawsuit filed by Neel and his ex-wife is pending in Fulton County against Omni Hotel Management Corp. Neel and his ex-wife allege that officials at the hotel at CNN Center should have known that the upright supports for balcony railings were spaced too wide apart to prevent young children from slipping through. Omni officials blame the mother, who they say was too busy partying to watch her son.
State Court Judge Diane Bessen recently ordered the two sides to try to work out an agreement, with mediation scheduled for this month. If they can't come to terms, the case will go to a Fulton County jury.
Police and state officials investigated other issues related to the child's death.
If the mother was at fault, should she be allowed to keep custody of her 9-year-old daughter from a previous marriage?
If the hotel balconies weren't safe, could this happen to another child?
And why have some states required that railing supports be designed to protect children, while Georgia has not?
Unforeseen tragedy
It all began when Savannah resident Donna Neel, 29, decided to take her children, their teenage baby sitter and a male companion to Atlanta for a little excitement.
Three months earlier, she had kissed her husband goodbye and urged him to be careful in Afghanistan.
But she met another man, Jason Fidler, a bouncer at Classy Cats, a Savannah nightspot where she worked as a waitress.
The two planned to take Hunter, his 9-year-old half-sister and their 14-year-old baby sitter to Atlanta for a weekend of fun that would include a visit to Six Flags or the zoo.
Court and police records provide details of the trip.
Fidler sprang for a limo and stashed a little marijuana in his backpack.
At the Omni, the group settled into Room 934. The baby sitter invited friends to join the party on Saturday night, March 2, 2002. Donna Neel rented two adjoining rooms as the party grew.
Early Sunday, Neel and Fidler treated everyone to a limo ride to have breakfast at an International House of Pancakes. They dropped off the children and teenagers back at the hotel, telling them to watch Hunter. The teens watched movies; some downed whiskey and rum and fell asleep. Hunter and his half-sister slept, too.
But Hunter, an energetic child, apparently woke up and wandered past the baby sitter's bed, through a sliding glass door and onto the balcony. One of the baby sitter's friends had thought the room was stuffy and asked that the balcony door be opened a crack to let in fresh air.
No one heard Hunter fall.
Meanwhile, Hunter's mother and Fidler were enjoying time alone, riding around Atlanta in the limo and loading up on Dunkin' Donuts food to take to the children.
They returned to the hotel to find everyone asleep except Hunter, who was missing.
Fidler looked over the balcony and saw the toddler, five stories below on the roof of a restaurant.
Hunter was alive and calling for his mother as hotel security led Neel to her son, who soon lost consciousness and was pronounced dead at an area hospital.
Charges dropped
When detectives learned Neel had left her child in the care of a young teenager during a night of alcohol-fueled partying, they charged her with reckless conduct, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and possession of less than an ounce of marijuana.
The charges were dropped after several of the teens told police they brought their own liquor and never used the drugs Fidler brought. Fidler said Neel never knew about the marijuana. State welfare workers investigated Neel's family life to see whether the home was safe for her daughter from a previous relationship. During a custody hearing, Atlanta police Sgt. Melody Gruber testified on Neel's behalf, calling Hunter's death an "unfortunate accident."
In her deposition, the police supervisor said the death could have happened even if Neel had been in the room.
'Omni did nothing wrong'
The hotel's attorney, Warner Fox, said the hotel's balconies, built in 1975 with vertical railings 6 inches apart, complied with Georgia codes at the time.
"Any loss of a child is a terrible tragedy. Our hearts go out to the family," Fox said. "But the Omni did nothing wrong."
Donna Neel's attorney, Adam Princenthal, said she does not want to discuss the case. "The tragedy here has nothing to do with Mrs. Neel's personal life," the attorney said. "They advertised [the Omni] as a kid-friendly hotel."
The hotel unveiled plans in 2000 for a $100 million expansion to make it the world's largest Omni, doubling its capacity to more than 1,000 rooms.
Attorney Bill Stone, who represents Gerry Neel, Hunter's father, said he doesn't understand why the hotel didn't update the balcony railings during such a major renovation. Stone said it was well-known in the commercial building industry as early as the 1990s that small children could fit through 6-inch openings. He said Southern states lagged behind in amending building codes to require the vertical openings to be no more than 4 inches apart.
The Washington-based International Code Council, which establishes residential and commercial building codes adopted by most cities, counties and states, revised its code for railings in 1997 —- five years before Hunter's death —- to recommend 4-inch openings.
"What we found over the years is that children playing on stair railings or decks can fall through 6-inch openings," said Tom Joachim, a member of the ICC who helped modify the code.
But Gretchen Hesbacher, a spokeswoman for the council, said it often takes time, even several years, for cities, counties and states to update their codes.
A year before Hunter's fall, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a warning blaming the annual deaths of about 140 children under age 15 in the United States on falls through railing openings. The academy's statement said, "Building codes should ensure that balconies, decks, porches, bleachers, roofs, and fire escapes have railings with vertical openings not greater than 4 [inches]."
Georgia revised its railings code in 2002.
Stone said the hotel could have taken other steps in the meantime to safeguard Hunter and others, such as assigning families with small children to rooms without balconies.
"Right now Omni's refusing to accept responsibility," Stone said. "If they don't, that's what we have courts and juries for."
This is a sad event and the family may not know better.
The real shame is on the lawyers who take the cases.
Just my opinion.
The soldier goes off to to war is his whore wife takes up with another man, takes the children out and leaves them with a 14 year old at a hotel while she parties it up.
And she wants to sue someone.....
Gotta wonder which housing project/trailer park Neel fished her out of.
I hate women like this. They give all military wives a bad name.
I think the fall of her son is entirely her fault. I don't blame the husband being devastated. I don't even blame him for suing, really, but the person he should be blaming is his ex. And the reason, I am sure, that she is joining him in the suit is so she doesn't have to face the fact that she, and only she, is responsible for what happened to her son.
You and I must be reading different articles.I have sympathy for the husband and nothing but contempt for the wife.And I'm having trouble understanding why the hotel is responsible here.
He's probably channelling his emotions away from his ex-wife. Easier to blame an impartial third party maybe?
It's hard to tell exactly from the article, but sounds to me like the accident happened before Georgia updated its codes.
I would hope this is tossed out of court very quickly.
Would you know my name
If I saw you in heaven
Will it be the same
If I saw you in heaven
I must be strong, and carry on
Cause I know I don't belong
Here in heaven
Would you hold my hand
If I saw you in heaven
Would you help me stand
If I saw you in heaven
I'll find my way, through night and day
Cause I know I just can't stay
Here in heaven
Time can bring you down
Time can bend your knee
Time can break your heart
Have you begging please
Begging please
(instrumental)
Beyond the door
There's peace I'm sure.
And I know there'll be no more...
Tears in heaven
Would you know my name
If I saw you in heaven
Will it be the same
If I saw you in heaven
I must be strong, and carry on
Cause I know I don't belong
Here in heaven
Cause I know I don't belong
Here in heaven
But she met another man, Jason Fidler, a bouncer at Classy Cats, a Savannah nightspot where she worked as a waitress.
The two planned to take Hunter, his 9-year-old half-sister and their 14-year-old baby sitter to Atlanta for a weekend of fun that would include a visit to Six Flags or the zoo.
Ok, I'll say it.. .... SLUT.
I do feel for her loss, but had she been a good wife, none of this would have happened.
I sometimes wonder what kind of people file these lawsuits. The woman I can believe. I find it harder to believe the ex-husband would join her.
Amen.
"In her deposition, the police supervisor said the death could have happened even if Neel had been in the room."
Perhaps, but had she been in the room instead of partying, she might have noticed him missing...AND he was alive when they reached the rooftop where the boy had fallen. If someone had been paying attention, perhaps he would have lived.
Ain't that the truth! I'm deeply sorry for this man and can see how a woman like this could manipulate him into joining this lawsuit. I know it's easier said than done, but they are now divorced and the best thing for him is to grieve his horrible loss in whatever way that does not involve this whore. And if this woman doesn't think that her older children don't see her for what she is, she should think again.
Either she's not a waitress or he's not a bouncer or it's not a nightspot or some combination thereof.
Or she was using the tax-free warzone pay her husband was making to finance her trysts.
Disgusting people - it's a shame this soldier fell for such a vile woman.
The absolute gall of this lawyer to claim that this tragedy "had nothing to do with Mrs. Neel's personal life" just frosts me, by the way. It was the conduct of her "personal life" which caused the whole damned thing.
I doubt many people would call the sleazy boyfriend a 'gentleman'.
Now that's rich. The wife committing adultery with another man spending her husband's money partying with this man while her son falls to his death and no one knows. Then with her now ex-husband sues the hotel because she won't take responsibility. Good grief!
Somehow, my wife and I raised two kids to adulthood without engaging in this sort of activity--a party at a hotel with underage kids doing drugs and alcohol, limo rides with some weed and leaving the baby on the ninth floor with a open door to a balcony. I guess we were just stupid in missing a good opportunity to sue a company with deep pockets.
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