The parents of a 3-year-old girl who fell five stories to her death at an Anaheim hotel during a family trip to Disneyland in 2015 are suing the establishment’s owners and property managers.
Stephanie Martinez fell from a fifth-story walkway in an indoor courtyard around 6:30 p.m. July 18, 2015, at the Embassy Suites, 3100 E. Frontera St. The Las Vegas girl either squeezed through the bars of the railing at the hotel or climbed over it, police said.
The negligence suit filed Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court on behalf of the girl’s parents, Jesus Martinez Avila and Alejandra Sandoval Duran, names as defendants the hotel’s owners, Urban Commons Frontera LLC and UCF 1 LLC, based in Los Angeles and Corona del Mar, respectively, and the property managers, Diamond Bar-based Brighton Management LLC.
The suit, which seeks unspecified damages, alleges a “dangerous, defective and unsafe” condition existed at the hotel that contributed to the child’s death.
Taylor Woods, a principal at Urban Commons, issued a statement Tuesday regarding the lawsuit.
“Our thoughts are with the family of Stephanie Martinez and we send our deepest sympathies following the tragic loss of their child,” the statement reads. “Unfortunately, we cannot provide comment on any active lawsuit.”
The girl’s family stayed at the hotel during a trip to Disneyland and the child fell while her mother was showering, according to news accounts.
The toddler was pronounced dead at UCI Medical Center in Orange less than an hour after the accident, according to the Orange County coroner’s office. The cause of death was blunt force head injuries, according to a copy of her death certificate attached to the lawsuit.
— City News Service