Settlement Reached In Baltimore Teen's Electrocution Death
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The City Board of Estimates officially signs off on a settlement for a teenage girl killed in a freak accident.
Deanna Green's family will get $200,000 and as Christie Ileto explains, they say it's a long time coming.
Anthony Green and his wife, Nancy, get the last bit of closure in their daughter Deanna's death Wednesday.
The long legal battle between the Greens and the city of Baltimore ends with a $200,000 settlement for Deanna's family.
"It's never been about the money. It's always been about knowing what happened and we've always felt that it was kept from us throughout the process," said Anthony Green.
The family says Deanna would have been 21 this week, but her life tragically ended seven years earlier when she was electrocuted by stray voltage at Druid Hill Park in 2006.
Deanna died when 227 volts jolted her body, after touching a metal fence that was on top of an exposed underground wire.
"In the beginning, no one wanted to take the blame for this, no one wanted to be at fault with this. People were passing the buck back and forth," said Green.
"As a mother, it's a terrible tragedy. We have an obligation, a moral obligation to make things right for the family, and that's why I wanted to make sure under my administration that this got settled," said Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.
And since Deanna's death, the city says they've taken many steps to make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else.
"Worked with BGE and the Maryland Public Service Commission and the Department of Transportation, including surveying and correction of stray voltage," Rawlings-Blake said.
"We will live in a positive way and in remembering Deanna by moving forward, working with the city, taking care of this contact voltage problem and moving it across the nation," said Nancy Green. "So in that respect Deanna will continue to live. I think she is celebrating with the Lord today."
As for the Green family, this is the final chapter in what has been a painful saga.
Since Deanna's death, her family has helped push new safety regulations regarding underground wires.
