DAVENPORT, Iowa — For the first time Thursday, Nov. 2, the lawyers of Peach and Lexus Berry spoke out as their clients sue for $50 million. Peach had her leg amputated inside the building after it collapsed and will now live the rest of her life with a prosthetic left leg from the hip down.
"She can't brush her teeth like she normally would, she can't take a shower, she can't go to the bathroom," Andrew M. Stroth, a lawyer who's representing the two women, said.
Peach and Lexus now live in Chicago and joined the press conference via Zoom. Peach says physically she is doing better than expected, but mentally she has a lot of trauma from that day.
"She lost her leg from just six inches approximately below her waist. She was trapped in that building for seven and a half hours thinking she was gonna die," Stroth said.
The couple's lawyers say they are willing to settle with the City of Davenport on a number, but if they cannot reach an agreement, they will go to a public trial asking for $50 million.
Their other lawyer, Stephen Hart, feels the city rushed to demolish the building after it collapsed.
"The city knew full well that this was a dangerous structure and no one should be living there," Hart said. "And it meant that the folks that lived there were unsuspecting of how dangerous it was to be in that building."
The other six lawsuits filed after the collapse have all been consolidated into one class-action lawsuit. That lawsuit is for the other tenants seeking compensation for the personal belongings they lost during the building collapse. Peach and Lexus' legal team say they have had no direct contact with the building's owner, Andrew Wold.
Peach is continuing her dream of being an artist.