Baltimore Jury Awards $2.5M in Lead Paint Case

November 6, 2009

A Baltimore brother and sister have been awarded $2.5 million in a lead paint case.

Jurors decided Tuesday in favor of 20-year-old Dontae Wallace and 17-year-old Searra Wallace. Attorneys say their cognitive and behavioral disabilities are due in part to lead paint in a house rented from City Homes, Inc., a nonprofit organization.

The children's mother said she moved to the home because of lead paint in another home and was told by the nonprofit it was safe.

The Baltimore-based Kennedy Krieger Institute was a defendant at first in the case but was later dropped. A study by the institute sought more cost-effective lead-paint removal measures, and a state appeals court found researchers failed to properly warn families about risks of homes in the study.