Over the past two months, three people have died in the same Best Western hotel room. An elderly couple first passed away in the hotel room in April. Then, on Saturday, a mother and her 11-year-old son were found unresponsive in the same hotel room. Sadly, the boy was pronounced dead on the scene. The mother awoke from a coma and is now in stable condition.
Authorities are currently waiting on toxicology results for the boy and will not say at this point whether the deaths are linked. However, today, the hotel's management company told a news agency that carbon monoxide was discovered in the room. Additionally, officials are investigating the system in the hotel's pool area. The room at issue is located above the hotel's pool.
As a personal injury lawyer, I would ask the same question as the elderly couple's son did: “Why are they still renting out this room?” The hotel had a duty to ensure that its rooms were safe for its guests. Because of this, at the very least, the hotel should have stopped renting this room until a full investigation into the couple's deaths was completed. Had the hotel taken proper steps after the couple's death, an innocent 11-year-old boy likely would still be alive today. I hope this tragic story prompts hotels across the country to significantly improve their safety procedures.
