‘An indescribable agony’: Partner of woman killed in helicopter crash prepares to sue BSO for $25 million
Sun Sentinel - October 5, 2023
BY SHIRA MOOLTEN
A little before 9 a.m. on Aug. 28, Zerney Taylor left the bed he shared with the woman he loved for over 10 years.
Before he could shut the bathroom door, the ceiling caved in and a Broward Sheriff’s Office helicopter crashed through the apartment, killing his partner, Lurean Wheaton, according to the notice of claim filed by the Kansas City-based law firm Robb & Robb on Thursday. She was still asleep when it fell.
The firm, which also represents Wheaton’s family, is seeking $25 million or the sum of all insurance policy agreements, arguing that the Sheriff’s Office knew about the helicopter’s poor maintenance for years and could have stopped it from breaking apart in the sky over their Pompano Beach apartment that day.
Wheaton’s family is seeking $50 million.
Trapped under debris, Taylor couldn’t move as he watched the helicopter crush Wheaton, according to the notice of claim, before the apartment erupted into flames. He called out her name, but heard no response.
Eventually, Taylor managed to extricate himself and escape through the bathroom’s small window. He ran around to the front door, but the fire stopped him from entering.
Later, paramedics pronounced Wheaton dead. BSO Battalion Chief Terryson Jackson, on board the helicopter, also died in the crash. The two other occupants, pilot Daron Roche and paramedic Mike Chaguaceda, survived.
“To witness the death of a loved one in such a sudden and violent manner is an indescribable agony,” the firm wrote in Taylor’s notice of claim. “Because of BSO’s actions, Mr. Taylor must carry that agony and suffering with him for the rest of his life.”
Taylor is now in and out of the hospital receiving intense medical care for his injuries, including to his head, his attorney, Andrew C. Robb, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel on Thursday.
He was so devastated by the crash that he could not attend Wheaton’s funeral.
“It’s beyond traumatizing, to not only see this event happen with your own eyes, but also be trapped not far away from this event and unable to get to your loved one and rescue her from this,” Robb said, adding that Taylor will need “extensive therapy.”
The Sheriff’s Office did not respond for a request for comment Thursday, but has paid for five hotel rooms for those displaced in the crash, and for Wheaton’s funeral, spokesperson Veda Coleman-Wright said last week.
Taylor is not the only person left with constant medical appointments and unbearable memories.
Chaguaceda, the paramedic who was on board, told the Sun Sentinel last week that his recovery, including exams and physical therapy, takes up so much time “it feels like a full time job.” The day before, he’d had five MRI’s.
At least during the day, he said, he has less time to relive the crash. When he does, he can remember each thought he had with each spin of the helicopter as it descended, wondering when, not if, he was going to die.
Stuck in the helicopter, half upside down after the crash, he had to remind himself that he was alive and to get out before the helicopter exploded, escaping by breaking a window while brushing flames off his arm.
“Do I have PTSD? I don’t think that’s even a question, I think that’s obvious,” Chaguaceda said. “Am I seeking therapy? Absolutely.”
Chaguaceda’s attorney, Judd Rosen of the Miami-based law firm Goldberg and Rosen, represented victims of the 2021 Surfside condo collapse. He said that he is looking into multiple maintenance companies that serviced the helicopter before the Pompano Beach crash, but declined to comment Thursday on whether the Broward Sheriff’s Office is responsible.
If or when he does return to work, Chaguaceda said, it’s “not going to be anywhere near an aircraft.”
During those seconds before the crash, he remembered how Jackson turned back to look him in eye and said, “Don’t worry Mikey, you’ll be good.”
“Those eyes looking at you, he said we’ll be good, and he never made it out,” Chaguaceda said. “That’s traumatizing.”
