A 12-year-old girl died Dec. 31 after suffering from electrical shock this past spring while dancing in the rain. Jayden Hicks was in Salina, Kansas, when she came into contact with a metal cover of in-ground electrical junction box. She was lying on the cover, unconscious, when emergency responders arrived, according to a report from the Salina Journal.
Hicks was initially hospitalized at Salina Regional Health Center, then transferred to a rehabilitation center in Nebraska, where she died from her injuries. A firefighter and two of the children Hicks had been playing with were treated at Salina Regional Health Center for less serious electrical shock injuries they suffered when they tried to assist her, the Salina Journal said.
A Wichita TV station, KSN, just posted a report and photos of the wiring on its website after obtaining the information from a public records request. Photos taken by an electrician for the City of Salina showed the wiring inside of the in-ground junction box at Campbell Plaza, the location of the incident. The melted wiring shows the damage left behind.
Hicks' family is filing a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Salina.