Lawsuit accuses ERCOT, Entergy of gross negligence after Conroe son dies in cold weather

HOUSTON A lawsuit accuses the Electric Reliability Council of Texas and Entergy, a utility company serving areas north of Harris County, of gross negligence after a boy died in Conroe this week during the intermittent weather.

The law firm of attorney Tony Buzbee of Houston is representing the Pineda family in the case over the death of 11-year-old Cristian Pineda.

Investigators said they were still trying to determine how Cristian died. They said an autopsy had been completed, but they were waiting for the results of other tests before determining a cause of death. They said a carbon monoxide test in the house is negative.

However, the family said in the lawsuit that they believe the temperature at their garage, which lost power during the storm on Tuesday night, led to the boy’s death.

According to court documents provided by Buzbee’s law firm, the family said they spent the entire night in a single room in an attempt to stay warm. Cristian’s mother and stepfather were with their baby boy, while Cristian shared a bed with his younger brother. Cristian was found unconscious the next morning. The family called 911 and performed CPR, but Cristian was already dead.

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In the case, the family accused ERCOT and Entergy of not warning people of a danger, providing inaccurate and incomplete advice and information to customers and participating in and contributing to acts that caused the incident in question, among other things.

The family is seeking $ 100 million in damages.

Entergy has released the following written statement on the matter: ‘We are very sad about the loss of lives in our community. We can not comment due to pending lawsuit. ”

KPRC 2 also asked ERCOT for a statement regarding the matter.