The mothers of three American friends who died from carbon monoxide poisoning while vacationing in Mexico have announced plans to sue Airbnb.
Kandace Florence, and Jordan Marshall, both 28, and 33-year-old Courtez Hall had visited Mexico City for Dia de Los Muertos. Their bodies were found inside their Airbnb apartment by their host on 30 October, with authorities ruling their deaths as carbon monoxide poisonings, according to Bloomberg.
In an exclusive interview with NBC News, Jennifer Marshall, Freida Florence and Ceola Hall revealed that they plan to sue Airbnb over their children’s deaths, arguing that the tragedy was preventable had the company required hosts to have functioning carbon monoxide detectors.
“I cannot process in my mind why my daughter is not here today,” Ms Florence told NBC. “There is no excuse. There is no excuse. It cost $30. If I had known, I would have bought it for her.”
The lawsuit has not been filed yet, their attorney, L Chris Stewart, told the network. He said that as part of the suit, the families will demand that the vacation rental company makes it a requirement for hosts to have functioning detectors in order to receive guests.
“These are the three examples of what parents want their children to be. We lost a 12th-grade teacher, a seventh-grade teacher, an entrepreneur who built a company from nothing. That’s what we want. These people were helping the next generation,” Mr Stewart told NBC about the victims.
Meanwhile, Ms Marshall said: “We can never get our babies back. But we really want to ensure that no other family has to deal with this.”
In a statement to NBC, Airbnb said: “This is a terrible tragedy, and our thoughts are with the families and loved ones as they grieve such an unimaginable loss.”
The company informed NBC that they give free carbon monoxide detectors to eligible guests as part of a program and said they are cooperating with authorities.
Florence spoke with her boyfriend on the phone on 30 October and managed to tell him she was feeling sick before the call dropped. He then alerted the host and asked to check on the three Americans.
“We can confirm the death of three U.S. citizens in Mexico. We are closely monitoring local authorities’ investigation into the cause of death,” the Department of Justice said in a statement in November, per local news station WKTR.
Marshall’s sister, Jasmine Marshall, said she had to deliver the tragic news to her mother on Halloween after learning about her brother’s passing on social media.
“I saw my brother’s name and I read it, and my heart sank, and the hardest thing was to break the news to my mom,” she told WKTR. “The Mexican police were not very forthcoming with information ... Also, the language barrier was incredibly difficult as well.”
Last month, Ceola Hall also told WDSU that her son’s students in New Orleans were deeply saddened by the loss.
“My son was a joyous child,” Ms Hall told the outlet. “He loved me, he loved his family. He loved to make everyone laugh.”
“It’s been so hard,” Ms Hall told WDSU at the time. “I would hate to see any parents go through what I went through with my son, I didn’t expect to hear this about my son. No one expects that.”
