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They Heard a Scream
Betty Peterson testified that she didn't know Brandon was playing in the yard. Kennon knew that his sons were in the yard, but he didn't keep track of where they were. He also didn't know that Brandon had joined his sons.When it was his turn to hide, Brandon ran to the far side of the thick hedgerow that lined the Petersons' driveway. Moments later, Kennon happened to see Mae fooling around with the unused bottle rockets. She picked one up, lit it and tossed it high in the air. The rocket flew up and across the driveway, falling behind the bushes where Brandon was hiding.
Within seconds, the adults heard a child scream, and they looked around in confusion. Nobody realized that one of the children had been hiding behind the shrubbery. The bottle rocket had hit Brandon in his right eye.
Betty rushed Brandon and his grandmother to a hospital in Picayune, where they were unable to get help. After picking up Brandon's mother, Michelle, they then drove to Children's Hospital in New Orleans, where an eye doctor referred them to nearby Charity Hospital. Doctors there finally operated on the boy. But it was too late. Brandon lost sight in the eye permanently.
Michelle Keith took the Petersons to court, arguing that the party throwers should have been more cautious with the dangerous fireworks on their property. She claimed the Petersons should have known that children and fireworks don't mix. Betty Peterson was aware that Brandon was in the yard; after all, the little boy said he'd asked her permission to play there. She also knew that fireworks were scattered around the property and that the other adults were looking for them.
This volatile combination should have put the couple on notice that an accident could happen, Michelle Keith claimed, and that the children should have been kept a safe distance from any unexploded fireworks. She also said the Petersons willfully engaged in dangerous behavior by throwing ignitable fireworks on the smoldering fire, and by failing to warn Mae Langston to safely dispose of any fireworks she found in the yard. Brandon did nothing other than take part in a game of hide-and-seek, but because of the Petersons' negligence, he lost half his sight forever.
The Petersons argued that Brandon's injury was a tragic but unforeseeable accident. Neither Kennon nor Betty had any idea that Mae Langston would set off a rocket. They also didn't know where Brandon was hiding -- nor did Mae, for that matter. They argued they had exercised due care by having adults, not the children, search for the fireworks.
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