Premises, Negligent Security, Drowning, and Fire Deaths in Ohio

Some deaths happen in places that should have been safe: an apartment building, a hotel, a store parking lot, a bar, a neighbor's pool. When a person dies because a property owner ignored a known danger, the family is left with the loss and with the feeling that it did not have to happen. We are sorry you are facing this.

Ohio law requires people and businesses that control property to take reasonable care for those they invite onto it. This page explains how those duties apply to the kinds of deaths we see most often: falls and structural failures, shootings and assaults, drownings, and fires.

How these deaths happen

• Falls from balconies, stairways without proper railings, loading docks, and other elevated areas, or caused by hazards a property owner knew about and did not fix.
• Shootings, stabbings, and assaults at apartment complexes, hotels, bars, parking lots, and other businesses with a history of violence and little or no security.
• Drownings at apartment, hotel, and private pools, often involving missing fencing or gates, missing safety equipment, or broken drain covers.
• Fires and carbon monoxide in rental housing, where smoke alarms, exits, heating equipment, or electrical systems were not maintained.
• Structural failures, such as collapsing decks, porches, and signs.

What the investigation must capture

Premises evidence changes fast. Owners repair, repaint, and replace after a death, and video systems often overwrite themselves.

• Surveillance video from the property and from neighboring businesses, requested in writing immediately.
• Photographs and measurements of the scene before repairs.
• Prior incidents. In a negligent security case, police calls for service, incident reports, and prior lawsuits at the property show what the owner knew. I spent 19 years as a Dayton police officer and sergeant, and call histories and offense reports for an address can say a great deal about whether violence there was foreseeable.
• Leases, management contracts, and security contracts, which show who controlled the area where the death happened and who promised to protect it.
• Inspection and code records from the fire department, building department, or health department.
• The criminal investigation file, when another person caused the death. Our guide chapter on criminal and civil cases explains how a prosecution and the civil claim relate.

Ohio rules for premises cases

The duty to business visitors and the "open and obvious" rule

A business owes its customers and other business visitors a duty of ordinary care to keep the premises in a reasonably safe condition and to warn of hidden dangers. Armstrong v. Best Buy Co., 2003-Ohio-2573. The same decision reaffirmed Ohio's "open and obvious" doctrine: when a danger is so obvious that a visitor would be expected to see and avoid it, the owner owes no duty to warn about it. The court explained that the doctrine turns on "the nature of the dangerous condition itself," not on the conduct of the person who was hurt. Property owners raise this defense often, and whether a hazard was truly obvious in the lighting, layout, and circumstances of that day is frequently the central question.

Negligent security: knowledge and control

Ohio generally imposes no duty to protect people from the crimes of others unless a special relationship exists, and a business and its customer have such a relationship. In Simpson v. Big Bear Stores Co., 1995-Ohio-203, a shopper was attacked and thrown to the ground outside a Columbus supermarket; after she died, her executor added a wrongful death claim. The Supreme Court of Ohio held that a business owner has a duty to warn or protect its business invitees from criminal acts when it "knows or should know that there is a substantial risk of harm" to them on premises in its possession and control. The duty does not extend to areas the business does not control. Because the parking lot was controlled by the shopping center owner, not the store, the claim against the store failed.

Simpson teaches two lessons for families. First, foreseeability is the heart of these cases, and it is proved with prior incidents, police calls, and the owner's own knowledge. Second, the right defendant is the party that controlled the place where the attack happened, which is why leases and management contracts must be gathered early.

Landlords and rental housing

Ohio's landlord-tenant law requires a landlord to comply with building, housing, health, and safety codes that materially affect health and safety; to make repairs needed to keep the premises fit and habitable; to keep common areas safe; and to keep electrical, plumbing, heating, and similar fixtures and appliances it supplies in good and safe working order. R.C. 5321.04(A)(1) to (4). In a fire or carbon monoxide death, the questions often include whether a required smoke alarm was present and working, whether exits were blocked, and whether a heating or electrical problem had been reported and ignored.

Pools and drownings

Drowning cases turn on the same principles: what the owner knew, what safety measures were required or reasonable, and whether the owner provided them. Fencing and self-closing gates, posted rules, rescue equipment, lifeguard staffing where promised, and safe drain covers are common issues. When a child drowns, how the child reached the water, and whether barriers and supervision were in place, usually get the closest attention; our page on child wrongful death discusses the losses families of children face.

Public property

If the death happened on property owned by a city, county, township, or school district, such as a public pool, park, or building, Ohio's political subdivision immunity statute applies, with its own exceptions, defenses, and deadline. R.C. 2744.02. Our page on government and police wrongful death explains those rules.

Who may be responsible

Depending on the facts: the property owner; a separate management company; a commercial landlord or shopping center owner that controls common areas; a tenant business that controls its own space; a security company that contracted to patrol or guard the property; contractors who built or repaired the structure; and, in assault cases, the person who committed the crime. Responsibility can be shared, and identifying every party with control over the location is essential.

What insurance or funds may pay

Businesses and landlords typically carry commercial general liability insurance, often with umbrella or excess coverage. Security companies carry their own liability policies. For a death at a private home, a homeowner's policy may apply. A person who commits a crime often has little or no insurance for intentional acts, which is why the property owner's responsibility matters so much in negligent security cases.

What your family may recover

A premises wrongful death claim allows recovery for lost support and services, loss of society and companionship, mental anguish, and funeral and burial expenses. R.C. 2125.02(C) and (D). A separate survival claim recovers for any pain and suffering before death. Our page on wrongful death compensation explains each category.

Deadlines

The wrongful death claim must be filed within two years after the death. R.C. 2125.02(F)(1). Claims against a city or other public body follow their own rules. Our page on Ohio wrongful death deadlines explains the exceptions and why waiting is risky even when two years seems like a long time.

Common questions