PREVIOUSLY:

• Eureka’s Lamplighter Inn Shuttered Indefinitely After Two Mysterious Deaths
• Police Say Excess Carbon Monoxide Levels Were Noted in Lamplighter Motel Deaths; Causes of Deaths Still ‘Pending Investigation’

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A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against the owners of Eureka’s shuttered Lamplighter Inn, where two people died in the same room five days apart.

The father of the second person, who died from carbon monoxide poisoning, is pursuing a lawsuit, which alleges the owners were negligent in their “reckless and inexcusable failure to provide even the most basic life-safety protections for guests,” according to the complaint.

The lawsuit, first filed April 1 in Humboldt County’s Superior Court, points to the hotel’s lack of carbon monoxide detectors and the fact two motel guests died under shockingly similar circumstances just days apart.

Police responded to calls at the motel on the afternoons of Feb. 21 and Feb. 26.

In both cases, responding officers located two victims, one of whom was declared dead at the scene and one who was sent to the hospital for treatment.

The lawsuit names owners Harjinder and Surinder Heer as defendants, along with a group of unidentified people. It argues the property should not have remained open to the public after the first deaths, and alleges the defendants failed to remedy the condition to prevent further deaths.

Attempts to reach the Heers were unsuccessful. Calls to numbers associated with the pair listed online went unanswered or were no longer in service, including the now-closed motel.

As a result of what the lawsuit calls negligence, Humboldt County resident Samantha Hanna died while staying in the hotel. Her father’s attorney told the Outpost she was found with three times the lethal dose of carbon monoxide, the cause of her death.

The day she was found dead, fire personnel experienced mild symptoms of carbon monoxide exposure upon entering the room, according to Eureka Police Department.

The complaint cites health and safety codes that require carbon monoxide detectors, an alleged failure to inspect and repair the hotel, and failure to warn the victim of the dangerous condition.

It alleges the owners chose profits over the safety of their guests.

John Jon Davidi, trial attorney for Los Angeles-area personal injury law firm Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP, said the situation should not have happened.

Particularly unique about this case, he said, is that the woman’s death followed another similar death just days before.

“This was a recurring problem that the owners of the property knew about and did nothing to remediate,” alleged Davidi.

He said hotel owners have a duty to people on the property to make sure they stay safe, particularly in preventing carbon monoxide poising, which he said is easily preventable.

Detectors for the odorless gas are mandatory in California hotel units with gas appliances. The hotel violated city code by failing to have working detectors, according to a March 3 notice from city officials.

The lawsuit seeks a jury trial and monetary penalty, according to legal documents.

Davidi added her father wants justice for his daughter, and for the people responsible for her death to be held responsible.

Next up, the defendants must answer the complaint.

Separately from this civil lawsuit, the Eureka Police Department continues to investigate the deaths, according to a spokesperson, who declined to comment further on the case.

According to the Humboldt County Coroner’s office, toxicity results for the first person who died have yet to come through. 

The motel has been shuttered since the second death on Feb. 26. Eureka city officials notified owners of a code violation related to working carbon monoxide detectors, according to a notice the Outpost obtained through a public records act request.