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A Chatham County Superior Court jury Thursday awarded a Savannah couple $2.3 million in
damages for the death of their 3 ½ -year-old daughter who, they contended, died from
poisoning caused when a pest control company improperly treated their home. Anne and
Kenneth Schemmel were awarded the sum by a jury of four men and eight women for the death
of the couple’s daughter, Heidi. Damages were returned against Town and Country
Exterminating, Inc. The verdict, returned about 5:30 p.m. ended almost three weeks of
trial before Judge Perry Brannen, Jr.
The jury’s total award of $2,267,490
included $1,760,000 for the child’s wrongful death; $400,000 for her pain and suffering;
$25,000 for Mrs. Schemmel for her illness as a result of the exterminating gas; $75,000
for her pain and suffering from the loss of her daughter and $7,490 for medical and
funeral expenses for the child. “It’s been such a horrible three years since Heidi died.
I feel like this is something we’ve really done for our daughter,” Mrs. Schemmel said
Thursday night. She said doctors agreed Heidi should not have died, but could not tell
her why. “Now I feel like I finally have some answers. I feel like I have saved some
other child from dying like Heidi did,” she said.
The Schemmels, represented by
attorneys Jeffrey Lasky and Brent Savage, blamed Heidi’s death on methyl bromide poisoning
left in their home at 1304 Grace Drive after the exterminator treated the structure for
wood borers. Methyl bromide is a colorless, odorless, poisonous gas used to treat pests.
Heidi died Sept. 19, 1987, in the pediatric intensive care unit at Memorial Medical Center –
less than nine hours after she was admitted.
The Schemmels charged Town and Country
officials were negligent in treating the house and then allowing them to re-enter the home
before the chemical could dissipate. Evidence showed the Schemmels moved to Savannah from
Iowa in July 1987 and rented the house. When they purchased the house in September, the
seller agreed to treat it for pests.
Town and Country fumigated the residence Sept.
15, 1987, and allowed the family to return Sept.17, 1987. Within hours, Heidi began vomiting
and became lethargic, evidence showed. Her mother also became ill, remaining ill from
Wednesday until Friday. Heidi’s brothers, Garrett, 6, and Derek, 9, also became ill, but
evidence showed Garrett vomited before the family returned home from a motel where they stayed
while the fumigation was being done.
By Sept. 19, the Schemmels took Heidi to a
pediatrician, Dr. Irvin Steiff, who ordered her hospitalized. She was admitted at MMC about
2:30 p.m. and died about 11:30 p.m. Evidence showed the Schemmels were allowed to return home
some 27 hours after the fumigation. Testimony by plaintiff witnesses showed the national
standard for pest control operators called for a minimum of from 36 to 48 hours after
treatment before releasing the residence for habitation.
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