In October of 2019, a tragedy occurred: Nevada mom Renai Palmer, 47, set a house fire, killing both herself and her 6-year-old son, Gavin Murray Palmer.
The boy’s father, Sean James Murray, is now suing a psychiatric hospital in Nevada, claiming that the facility discharged Palmer early. The tragic event occurred within a week of her release.
Sean’s lawsuit alleges that Palmer was receiving treatment for at Spring Mountain Treatment Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. According to KTNV, Sean is claiming the facility “failed to provide appropriate care and treatment” for Palmer and also that they did not properly warn him that Palmer was violent and mentally incapable of being responsible for her actions.
The suit also alleges that Palmer was released a week early, “despite a propensity to harm herself and/or others.”
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According to the suit, Palmer had been placed “Legal 2000” hold in the fall of 2019 after being deemed a “clear and present danger to herself and others.” Nevada law states that patients in such a situation can be released after 72 hours if they are not considered a threat but that patients may also be held indefinitely for treatment.
The Spring Mountain Treatment Center denies even treating Palmer. “This is a tragic story and our hearts go out to all involved. However, Spring Mountain Treatment Center did not admit an individual in 2019 under this name,” the facility said in an email to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
A week after Palmer was supposedly discharged from the facility, she locked herself and her son, Gavin, in a bedroom at her parents’ house and started a fire. Both perished.
Sean seeks more than $45,000 in damages, according to his lawsuit. He and Palmer shared custody of Gavin, but the two had not been a couple for five years.
In October, shortly after the tragedy, he launched a GoFundMe. “My 6 year old boy Gavin was murder by his mommy Renai who commented suicide,” he wrote on the fundraising page. “Both died in a house fire on October 8th. I’m trying to raise some money in Gavin’s name to donate in his honor and help our family.”
The fundraiser has raised more than $12,000 of its $10,000 goal.
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