SPRINGDALE — A Springdale woman who played a video game while her daughter died in a sweltering car wants to appeal a settlement involving the child in a lawsuit against the apartment complex where they lived.
Mary Christina Ogosaly, formerly Cordell, was charged with manslaughter after her daughter, 3-year-old Brianna Cordell, died from being trapped in a hot car in August 2003. When Brianna was declared dead several hours later at a local hospital, her body temperature was 109 degrees.
Authorities said Cordell and her boyfriend may have been so fixated with the interactive game “EverQuest” she neglected to pay adequate attention to Brianna’s whereabouts on the day the child died.
Legal Lingo
Class Action Lawsuit
A lawsuit that allows a large number of people with a common interest in a matter to sue or be sued as a group. Class actions provide a convenient and efficient vehicle for resolving legal disputes affecting a number of parties with similar claims that could have similar outcomes because they do not have to be tried piecemeal in separate actions, saving the courts and the litigants time and money.
Source: The Free Legal Dictionary
A jury found Ogosaly guilty of negligent homicide. Cordell had been charged with manslaughter.
Former Washington County Circuit Judge Mary Ann Gunn followed the jury’s recommendation and sentenced Ogosaly to one year probation, a $100 fine and parenting classes. Gunn also told her to give up video games and spend more time with her other child.
Ogosaly and her children were members of a class action lawsuit filed in 2004 against owners and builders of Springdale Ridge Apartments. The city ordered gas service turned off to the complex on South 40th Street in August 2004 and declared the entire facility unfit for occupancy after a high level of carbon monoxide was discovered in almost every apartment tested by the Springdale Fire Department, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit claimed the design for the heating, ventilation and air conditioning in the 192-unit complex was flawed.
That lawsuit was settled out of court with several tiers of damages for different class members. Ogosaly, as part of that settlement, was awarded $500. Her two children were awarded $300 each.
Ogosaly believes the carbon monoxide may have contributed to Brianna’s death, her court-appointed attorney, Brian Lester, said following a hearing Wednesday. She also believes the damages award for Brianna were inadequate.
Wrongful death claims were eligible for up to $100,000 each. Three were granted by the claims administrator but the specific amounts were not available Wednesday. Lester said he will not know how much Ogosaly may ask for until he reviews any available evidence. Medical records from Brianna’s doctor may have been destroyed.
The claims administrator, David Danielson, said a death certificate but no medical records were filed with Brianna’s wrongful death claim. For claims of more than $300, or in the case of wrongful death claims, supporting evidence was required.
Attorneys for the class asked a judge to hear the matter and determine whether Ogosaly has a proper claim. In court documents, attorneys said all claims properly filed have been handled by the claims administrator and that Ogosaly’s new claim is neither proper nor does it have merit.
Circuit Judge Chadd Mason declined to address the merits of the claim Wednesday but said Ogosaly should have another bite at the apple.
Mason ruled Ogosaly did not receive adequate notice of her procedural rights and ordered she can submit any medical records or other supporting evidence she has to the claims administrator within 30 days. Danielson will determine if the claim has merit. Ogosaly can appeal to circuit court if she feels an award is inadequate.
Mason said there was some confusion over who was the administrator of Brianna’s estate. A probate court appointed a class representative from the class action lawsuit as administrator after Ogosaly moved out of state. Much of the communication about Brianna’s claim went to the administrator instead of Ogosaly. Mason on Wednesday named Ogosaly administrator of Brianna’s daughter’s estate.
The class action lawsuit was settled for $2.6 million after six years in the court system. The settlement money went to tenants, residents, occupants and frequent visitors of the Springdale Ridge Apartments between April 1, 2001, and Dec. 12, 2004.