Rhode Island Superior Court records provide insight into a 2018 incident that ultimately resulted in the Town of Warren paying the mother of a severely injured infant $13 million, with the Town’s insurance agency paying $5 million of that amount and the remainder falling on the Town.

Obtained recently by the Warren Times-Gazette, court documents reveal that the Town of Warren found itself as a defendant in the case due to the actions of a Town-employed EMT that followed a car crash that occurred on Child Street on Oct. 28, 2018 — which resulted in catastrophic and lifelong injuries to a 13-month-old child.

The initial complaint (and two additional amended complaints) brought forward on Feb. 7, 2022, by the plaintiff — listed as Kelly L. Pereira, of Middletown, R.I., the mother of the child who was injured — asserted six total claims against the defendants. Those include five counts against Dorel Juvenile Group, Inc. (the manufacturers of the car seat utilized by the family), and one count of gross negligence against the Town of Warren.

The complaint, in establishing the facts surrounding the case, alleged that on Oct. 28, 2018, the child (whose name has been omitted) was seated in a “Safety 1st Grow and Go” convertible car seat, facing forward, when the child’s father, Edson Pereira, fell asleep at the wheel while driving on Child Street. The car first struck a utility pole before continuing to travel for about 130 feet and colliding with a tree, bringing the car to a stop.

“Shortly after the incident on Child Street occurred, healthcare providers employed by the Town of Warren, Rhode Island, arrived at the scene and began evaluating and treating [the child],” the complaint continues.

The lawsuit alleges that the child’s already serious injuries were made worse by an apparent (but unspecified) incident or incidents that occurred during the emergency response from an EMT.

“The Town of Warren owed a duty of care to [the child] to not be grossly negligent in training its emergency personnel, and in administering first aid, evaluation, care and transport of [the child] from the scene of the incident to Rhode Island Hospital,” the complaint reads. “The failure of the Town of Warren to comply with the applicable duty of care was a proximate cause of an exacerbation of [the child’s] catastrophic injuries from the impact of the car with the tree.”

The complaint further states that the young child has suffered permanent, debilitating injuries as a result of the incident, requiring 24-hour medical attention and having limited physiological functions.

“[Name redacted] is Kelly Pereira’s only child, and Kelly is [name redacted]’s sole custodial parent,” the complaint states. “There could be no greater injury.”

Why the town settled
When Town Solicitor Anthony DeSisto informed the Warren Town Council of the settlement reached between the plaintiff and the town during its December 2023 meeting, he minced no words about the risk that pursuing the matter in court would have posed to the town’s financial health.

“If this case went to trial, the risk of damages, the exposure to the town, would be multiple times that [$8 million settlement],” he said at that meeting, adding that the potential settlement amount could have “bankrupt the town.”

The documents recently reviewed by the Times-Gazette confirmed those statements were based in truth.

A document from July 29, 2022, reported that the cost of medical expenses for the child had already approached $1.5 million, and that, “The future life care plan will be in the tens of millions of dollars. A reasonable jury award for non-economic damages will also be in the tens of millions of dollars. Prejudgment interest will also increase the final judgment by another 50 to 75 percent, depending on the trial date.”

While the manufacturer of the carseat remains in litigation regarding the incident — where the plaintiff alleges in several counts that the company was negligent in its advertising of the carseat’s safety, and designed a dangerous, defective product when used as advertised — Warren’s settlement removed the town from any future financial liability that comes as a result of that case.

DeSisto, reached on Friday for this story, said that the exact details of what occurred with the emergency response from the Warren EMT remains under seal in Superior Court as a part of the settlement agreement.