Mother of Flo Rida’s 6-year-old sues building managers after son’s five-story fall
The mother of Flo Rida’s 6-year-old son has filed a civil lawsuit against the managers of a New Jersey apartment complex accusing them of negligence that allegedly resulted in her young son falling from a fifth-floor window earlier this month.
Zohar P. Dillard, the son of the “Low” and “Wild Ones” rapper, fell to the concrete pavement below the Jersey City rental property on March 4 and sustained “serious bodily injuries,” according to the lawsuit filed Monday by his mother, Alexis Adams, in the Superior Court of New Jersey.
Adams’ and Dillard’s attorney, Steven P. Haddad, accused the building’s management company, construction company and window installers of maintaining the premises “in a negligent, careless and reckless manner creating foreseeable and dangerous conditions and activities on the premises,” according to the complaint obtained Thursday by the Los Angeles Times. (Flo Rida, real name Tramar Dillard, is not named as a party in the lawsuit. )
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Haddad said that the defendants installed windows “that posed a hazardous condition” and gave Adams “a false sense of security,” accusing the defendants — Pitch Perfect 74 LLC, Goldberg Management, Carlos Machado and several unnamed building and construction companies — of installing “incorrect sized guards” on the windows that allegedly caused Dillard’s fall and led him to be “seriously injured.”
The complaint said that Dillard has incurred and will incur expenses for treatment of injuries, has been disabled and will “not be able to perform his usual functions,” and has been caused great pain and suffering, as well as “great physical and mental pain and suffering.” Adams is said to be suffering from emotional distress and will incur expenses for her son’s care, treatment and therapy due to the fall.
The attorney also demanded that the defendants disclose whether there are insurance policy agreements to satisfy all or parts of a future judgment, which they are seeking from the parties along with punitive damages with interest, legal fees and other relief deemed just by a jury.
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In a Thursday statement to The Times, Haddad said that the young boy is out of the intensive care unit but remains hospitalized for bodily injuries that include a shattered pelvis, fractured toes, a liver laceration, internal bleeding and collapsed lungs.
“He has demonstrated tremendous strength and fight as he recovers from his traumatic injuries,” Haddad said, and he faces “a long and challenging road ahead.”
“[The defendants] ignored my client’s repeated requests for window guards and when they put in a window safety bar, it was the wrong device and wrong size, allowing Zohar to fall right through the window,” he added.
Haddad told TMZ that Dillard fell at least 50 feet, and doctors believe it’s a miracle that he survived. The boy is reportedly in a full-body cast and has to learn how to walk again. The boy was reportedly diagnosed with autism and a brain disorder prior to the accident.
“As a single mom to a special needs child, this feels like a nightmare,” Adams told New Jersey’s Daily Voice. “My heart is broken into a million pieces. It is devastating to see my child go through such pain and trauma knowing that this could’ve been avoided.”
The defendants have not yet filed a response to the lawsuit but have a month to do so, Haddad said. Representatives for Flo Rida did not immediately respond Thursday to The Times’ requests for comment.
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