Lawsuit filed against SoCal Edison, emergency alerts company over Eaton Fire death

ALTADENA, Calif. (KABC) -- Eleven months after the Eaton Fire ripped through Altadena, the sister of one of the 19 people killed in the fire filed a lawsuit over her death.

Backed by lawyers with the group LA Fire Justice, Gerry Darden is suing Southern California Edison, their parent company and the tech company Genasys, which was contracted with Los Angeles County to send out evacuation notices to residents in the event of a fire.

The lawsuit contends Genasys warned people east of Lake Avenue but not those west of it, or at least not before it was too late.

"Everybody else that died, including Gerry's sister, is on the left side, the west side of Lake Avenue," LA Fire Justice attorney Mikal Watts told reporters. "As we put on our common sense hat, that is an impossibility unless something was done wrong."

In what felt like a preview of a potential opening argument in court, Watts made a charged accusation in a city whose population is more than 50% non-white.

"At its core this is really a case of digital redlining," Watts said.

Stacey Darden grew up in Altadena. She had been in contact with her sister, Gerry, throughout the evening of Jan. 7, closely following news reports and believing she was safe since she hadn't received an evacuation notice.

She stayed in her home, and her sister assumed she fled on foot the next day but she never turned up. Stacey's body was discovered a week later. She wasn't identified until April.

"This is showing us how systems don't work. They're dysfunctional," LA Fire Justice CEO Chris Holden said. "Stacey deserved better. We all deserved better."

Jeff Monford, a spokesman for Southern California Edison, said the following in a statement:

"We understand the tremendous impacts on the community, and our hearts are with everyone who was affected by the Southern California wildfires. We are reviewing the lawsuit that has been filed and will respond through the legal process."

Genasys says it denies any wrongdoing and will defend itself against the allegations.