LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Abraham Kenneth Ezra Williams ordered spaghettini with pesto sauce. He didn’t know it was going to be his last meal.
A wrongful death lawsuit filed Dec. 26 alleges a cascade of mistakes after Williams collapsed — apparently due to shellfish contamination of the food he ate at Beauty & Essex at The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas. The lawsuit says Williams advised the restaurant of his allergy.
A wide net cast by the lawyers representing Williams’ mother, his father, and his estate accuses a long list of defendants of errors that ended in his death on April 30, 2024, four days after he ate at Beauty & Essex. The defendants are:
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The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas
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The Clark County Fire Department (CCFD)
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unnamed individuals and companies
Employees of the restaurant failed to respond effectively to Williams’ medical emergency, according to the lawsuit. After taking a single bite, he fell ill and went to the restroom. His friends helped him outside, where someone had already called 911.
The lawsuit alleges that employees who were trained to render CPR and other aid failed to do so. Instead, they stood by watching as Williams choked for air.
“Employees of Defendant Cosmopolitan and/or Beauty & Essex created a barricade around the Decedent and refused to let anyone through to perform any life saving techniques,” the lawsuit said.
In addition to specific allegations of failure to render aid, the lawsuit also said EMS personnel from Community Ambulance and CCFD didn’t properly follow procedures for treating a patient in anaphylactic shock. That led to delays in administering medication, improper monitoring of his condition, and eventually oxygen deprivation. His condition was in decline when he was taken to the hospital by ambulance.
When Williams arrived at Sunrise Hospital, he went into respiratory arrest and cardiac arrest, according to the lawsuit. The hospital couldn’t intubate him due to severe swelling, so a cricothyrotomy was performed. He was taken to intensive care and placed on a ventilator.
“On information and belief, Decedent suffered respiratory arrest while at Defendant Cosmopolitan and Defendant Beauty & Essex’s premises and due to the time elapsed until medical treatment was provided, Decedent suffered severe brain damage and eventual death,” according to the lawsuit.
Williams was taken off a ventilator on April 28 and died two days later.
The lawsuit demands a jury trial in Clark County District Court.
Christian Morris Trial Attorneys are representing the Williams family — his father, Kenneth Allen Williams, and his mother, Angela Gaboury — and the estate. The family resides in Georgia. The lawsuit seeks general and special damages in excess of $15,000, as well as punitive damages against the defendants. It also seeks interest, attorney’s fees and any further relief deemed just and proper by the court.
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