Brussels Sprout Caused Disabled Woman To Die: Lawsuit

JOLIET, IL - The family of a 45-year-old woman who died on July 31, 2015 has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Little Friends, Inc., a corporation that manages several living facilities around Will County and DuPage County. At the time of her death, Kristi Bell was living in the 2700 block of Midland Drive in Naperville, under the residential care of Little Friends. She ingested a Brussels sprout, causing her to die from asphyxiation, the lawsuit contends.

The corporation overseeing her care was aware of Bell's "behavioral risks of placing food items and non-food items in her mouth and swiping food from others thereby posing a choking risk and necessitating close monitoring," stated the plaintiff's lawyer, Michael S. Cetina of Wheaton. The lawsuit was filed recently at the Will County Courthouse.

According to the lawsuit, Bell began choking on a Brussels sprout on July 25, 2015. She was taken to Edward Hospital, where she died a week later. The suit contends that "as a direct and proximate result of Defendant, Little Friends, Inc., wrongful conduct, the estate of Kristi Bell has incurred funeral expenses and was deprived of Kristi Bell's society, care, attention, guidance, love, affection and companionship ...."

The lawsuit was brought by Plainfield resident Donovan Davis, special administrator of Bell's estate. The plaintiff seeks more than $50,000 in compensatory damages plus attorneys fees. At the time of her death, Bell was survived by her parents, Clayton and Judith Bell, and three sisters, the suit states.

According to the lawsuit, Kristi Bell had severe developmental disabilities and cerebral palsy. She had lived with her parents from 1970 until 2012. In 2012, Bell's legal guardians allowed her to move into a group home operated by Little Friends.

The plaintiff's lawyer argues that prior to Bell's death, her legal guardians and family had not been told that Little Friends "removed the behavioral risk of swiping food from others from (Bell's) care plan."

The family was also in the dark that Bell "had choked on a hot dog and bun on or about July 20, 2015" and that Little Friends "would serve Brussels Sprouts that were not cut into small pieces to members of the home while Kristi Bell was present at the table," the lawsuit states.

Little Friends is accused of having "inadequately trained house monitors at the home of Kristi Bell" and "an inadequate number of house monitors available to properly monitor Kristi Bell's actions."

If his clients had been made aware of these problems, "a reasonable person in the guardians' position would have chosen a different course of action on behalf of Kristi Bell, including but not limited to removing Kristi Bell from the home operated and managed by the Defendant," the plaintiff's lawyer wrote.

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