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.
Ameren Missouri agreed not to introduce evidence that Morgan violated city ordinances regulating minors' curfew and trespassing as well as state and city laws dealing with minors buying and possessing alcohol and possessing marijuana.Morgan lived in his grandmother's home with his mother and half- sister for the first 6 1/2 years of his life. But in 1997, he moved in with his aunt and only 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.Tina Morgan, represented by W. Morris Taylor and Scott A. Bailey, of Taylor's Clayton law firm, alleged Ameren Missouri 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.Ameren Missouri's defense documents detail Morgan's night of partying, which began July 29, 2007, and ended with 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.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.Morgan's mother, Tina Morgan, sued the St. Louis County Port Authority, which bought the property in 2006, and Ameren Missouri, known as AmerenUE when the case was filed.Judge: Bryan HettenbachThe trial was to start July 27 in 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."We had a pretty good description of him," Thomas said.The confidential settlement is between Tina Morgan and AmerenMissouri. Last September, Judge Robert H. Dierker Jr. granted the port authority's motion for summary judgment based on the fact that Morgan was trespassing and that his mother could not show that others frequently had trespassed where Morgan died. If others had done so, the port authority would have known about it and would have owed Morgan a duty of care, the judge concluded.The confidential settlement is between Tina Morgan and Ameren Missouri. Last September, Judge Robert H. Dierker Jr. granted the port authority's motion for summary judgment based on the fact that Morgan was trespassing and that his mother could not show that others frequently had trespassed where Morgan died. If others had done so, the port authority would have known about it and would have owed Morgan a duty of care, the judge concluded.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.
Author: Donna Walter
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