CNB Bank & Trust is being sued by Madison County resident Alesha Jones alongside two other defendants for indirectly causing her to suffer "immense and permanent injuries" due to poor structure maintenance.
The other two defendants, Lori Hellemeyer and Joshua Keeney, were in a romantic relationship, and Keeney retained partial ownership of certain real estate properties including a trailer home parked on 363 West Gilead, Hardin. The trailer itself was the property of and controlled by CNB Bank & Trust as Trustee of the Fred Smith, Jr., Testamentary Trust. It was later found that the trailer was uninhabitable.
On Jan. 28, Hellemeyer invited Jones to stay as a guest at the trailer home. That evening, Keeney briefly joined Jones and Hellemeyer before returning to his residence in Batchtown.
Late at night, the propane heater broke down, leading Hellemeyer to try to start a wood-burning fire on an outside porch. This caused a fire in the property due to structural defects which Keeney knew of or should've known about. The fire occurred at or near the trailer's front door. Jones attempted to flee through a secondary exit door, only to find that it had been sealed shut, as were the windows. Jones was then forced to flee the trailer by going through the fire, which gave her severe burns. She was hospitalized, given skin grafts, and incurred immense medical expenses. Jones is now permanently disfigured and disabled due to sustained injuries.
Keeney, Hellemeyer, and CNB were each sued by Jones on individual counts. Keeney was accused of multiple acts of negligence, including failing to exercise reasonable care for the structure and to provide guests with safe means of escape in the case of an emergency. Hellemeyer was accused of negligent acts including failing to warn Jones that the trailer was uninhabitable and failing to timely warn Jones of the uncontrolled fire. CNB was accused of negligent acts including allowing the trailer to be occupied despite its uninhabitable nature and allowing combustible materials to be stored on the front porch under a defective firebox. Jones is requesting a monetary sum greater than $50,000 from each entity, including the costs of suit and pre-judgment interest.