Christopher Morgan and his friends had been drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana that night in July 2007 when they crawled through a hole in the chain-link fence surrounding the abandoned national defense mapping site on South Broadway, near what's now the River City Casino.
Tina Morgan, represented by W. Morris Taylor and Scott A. Bailey, of Taylor's Clayton law firm, alleged AmerenMissouri was negligent for failing to de-energize power lines on the abandoned property, failing to keep high-voltage lines high enough and isolated enough to prevent electrocution, failing to detect downed power lines and failing to repair or de-energize downed power lines.In a strange twist, the court file contained a settlement agreement between Tina Morgan and the port authority in which the port authority agreed to seek a change of judge from Judge John F. Garvey. The port authority made the request on Sept. 9, 2010, which was around the same time Dierker issued his summary judgment order.The case is Tina M. Morgan v. Union Electric Co. d/b/a AmerenUE et al., 0922-CC10115.The trial was to start Wednesday morning in the St. Louis Circuit Court, but before a jury panel could be seated for questioning the parties told Judge Bryan Hettenbach they had settled their dispute.The defense, represented by Armstrong Teasdale's James J. Virtel and Karen A. Baudendistel, also disputed Tina Morgan's claim that she's entitled to recover for the loss of companionship, guidance and support of her son. Morgan lived in his grandmother's home with his mother and half-sister for the first 6 1/2 years of his life. In 1997 he moved in with his aunt and spent weekends with his mother. He lived with his aunt until she and her husband divorced in 2002.The plaintiff also alleged she was entitled to punitive damages.Several days later, Garvey denied the port authority's motion and then granted the plaintiff's change-of-judge motion.The four teenagers had walked around the 39-acre property and through some of the old buildings for more than an hour when Morgan, 16, ran ahead in a parking lot. Lying on the pavement were three utility poles, an energized power line, the neutral part of a supply system and a transformer. Woodchips and oil also were spread around the pavement.One of Morgan's friends heard him scream, saw sparks fly, then saw him fall. Morgan was pronounced dead at the scene.Both Virtel and Taylor said in emails that they could not comment on the case.AmerenMissouri's defense documents detail Morgan's night of partying, which began July 29, 2007, and ended in his death at about 3 a.m. the next day. The defense documents also said the utility poles had been vandalized before Morgan and his friends arrived.According to the defense documents, it isn't clear where Morgan lived between 2002 and 2005, although he lived with his mother in Scott County during at least part of 2005. At the time of his death, Morgan was living with his half-sister, her boyfriend and their children, and he was working as a plumber's helper for C.J. Plumbing Co.Morgan's mother, Tina Morgan, sued the St. Louis County Port Authority, which bought the property in 2006, and AmerenMissouri, known as AmerenUE when the case was filed.
The case is Tina M. Morgan v. Union Electric Co. d/b/a AmerenUE et al., 0922-CC10115.
