A North Carolina mother is suing the owners and managers of her senior apartment complex, claiming a malfunctioning laundry room door trapped her son inside during a medical emergency and cost him his life.
Debra Davies filed the lawsuit in Durham County Superior Court on June 3 following the death of her 39-year-old son, Jason Pulliam, at Ashton Place Apartments in Durham.
According to the complaint obtained, Pulliam was visiting his mother on Nov. 25, 2024, when he went to the complex’s laundry room to wash clothes. While inside, he suffered a medical emergency.
Another resident who was also in the room reportedly tried to get help, but the door allegedly malfunctioned, leaving both her and Pulliam trapped.
The woman then attempted to climb out through a window, only to discover that it opened just four inches, the lawsuit states.
She did not have her cellphone with her and was unable to call for help, according to the complaint.
Several residents eventually heard the woman shouting and called 911. Emergency responders arrived and performed CPR, but Pulliam was pronounced dead at the scene.
His official cause of death was listed as cardiomyopathy, a disease affecting the heart muscle.
Davies argues that her son’s death was preventable and resulted from what the lawsuit describes as “gross negligence” by the property’s owners and management. The complaint says his death caused “profound and irreversible harm” to his mother.
She is seeking the maximum amount of punitive damages allowed under North Carolina law.
Davies told CBS 17 that she believes the tragedy might have been avoided if the laundry room door had included a glass panel that allowed people outside to see what was happening.
“The first lady who was doing laundry when my son had his medical emergency began banging on the door, trying to get someone’s attention from the outside,” Davies said.
She claimed that residents outside were hesitant to enter because they could not see into the room or understand what was happening.
“If there had been a glass panel, they could have seen my son lying on the floor,” she said.
Davies said she is still struggling to accept how her youngest child died.
“My son should not have died in that laundry room. There’s no way to justify it,” she said. “He was my baby. He was the youngest in the family.”
Since Pulliam’s death, Davies has helped establish a tenant group called Ashton Seniors in Action, which advocates for safer living conditions and proper maintenance at the complex.
Her attorney, Lee Rodio, said the legal case remains in its early stages but vowed to pursue accountability.
“We anticipate a thorough discovery and litigation process and look forward to vigorously pursuing justice for the harm caused to Mr. Pulliam and his family as a result of his death on the property that belonged to DHIC and the Ashton Place defendants,” Rodio explained.
In a separate statement to ABC 11, Rodio said his legal team feels confident in its claims and is prepared to approach the case in good faith.
“We feel confident about the theory of liability here,” he said. “Throughout this process, we will come to the table in good faith and invite the defendants to do the same.”
Jack B. Bayliss Jr., an attorney representing the defendants named in the lawsuit, said the claims should be decided in court.
“I believe a free press is the bulwark of a free country,” Bayliss said in a statement to ABC 11. “However, lawsuits need to be handled within the court system.”
He added that the defendants plan to formally respond to the complaint and defend themselves in the case, with those filings becoming part of the public record.
