The parents of a toddler who reportedly drank a toxic substance left behind by an apartment complex maintenance man are suing the owners and managers of the apartments.

Michael Baker and Tera Ready, parents of the boy, are seeking unspecified damages in their lawsuit against the Arlington Farms Partners, the PPA Real Estate Management Corp., and apartment maintenance supervisor Pablo Rodriguez Delafuente.

The suit was filed in Waco’s 414th State District on behalf of the couple by Waco attorney Craig Cherry.

A manager at the Arlington Farms Apartments, 1800 Primrose Drive in Waco, declined to give her name and declined comment on the lawsuit. She referred questions to the PPA corporate office in Austin.

Phone messages left there with two managers were not returned Wednesday.

Delafuente, whom the lawsuit describes as a live-in maintenance supervisor at the Arlington Farms Apartments, also did not return phone messages left at his workplace.

Baker and Ready noticed a water leak coming from the air conditioner in their apartment in June and reported it to management, according to the suit.

Delafuente and another worker who is not identified in the lawsuit came to check the leak. While working on the leak, the men reportedly used a toxic chemical known as potassium hydroxide or caustic potash to repair the air conditioner.

The air conditioner is in an insert in the wall in the main hallway of the apartment and has a covering or a door with no latch to keep it closed, the suit alleges.

The potassium hydroxide was in an unmarked water bottle without a cap or other seal and was left behind in the air conditioning compartment, unbeknownst to Baker and Ready, the suit claims.

On July 5, Evan Baker, the couple’s 15-month old child, was playing in the hallway, opened the door to the air-conditioning unit and drank the potassium hydroxide from the bottle, the suit alleges.

“Immediately, Evan began screaming and crying uncontrollably. He was clearly in excruciating pain,” the suit says. “Evan’s parents immediately rushed him to the hospital for treatment. It was determined by Evan’s physicians that Evan had sustained significant chemical burns to his esophagus.”

The child spent several days in intensive care and required a feeding tube because of the chemical burns, according to the suit.

The suit, which alleges gross negligence, said that Evan continues to suffer from the effects of the chemical burns to his esophagus and will need continued medical care in the future.

twitherspoon@wacotrib.com

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