The mother of two young children who died three months apart in 1996 has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against her ex-husband and his wife.

Lisa Teders' 4-year-old daughter, Kaelie Cusick, died Aug. 12, 1996, after falling down the stairs in the home of her father and stepmother, Richard and Sherrie Cusick, 11749 Pied Piper Parkway, Cromwell. Her death was ruled accidental.

Seven-year-old Anthony Cusick died Nov. 23, 1996, in a fire at the same residence. Sherrie Cusick was indicted by a grand jury Feb. 3 in connection with Anthony's death and is charged with murder. She is currently out on bond and faces trial on Nov. 30 in Kosciusko Circuit Court.

According to the civil lawsuit filed recently in Kosciusko Superior Court 1, both children were left unsupervised by Sherrie Cusick on the days that they died.

The case, filed by Teders' attorney, Jack C. Birch of Syracuse, claims that Kaelie was left alone on the second floor of the Cusick home on Aug. 12, 1996, after Sherrie Cusick had been having her try on clothes. She was later found by Anthony wrapped in a sheet and unconscious at the bottom of the stairway.

Kaelie suffered a spinal fracture and died of cardiopulmonary arrest as a result of her injuries. The lawsuit states that "Kaelie suffered great physical pain and suffering from the time of her injury until her death. The specific manner in which Kaelie received her injuries is not currently known." However, the lawsuit contends that Kaelie's injuries and death "were the direct and proximate result of Sherrie Cusick's negligence" because Sherrie Cusick left the child alone, knowing that the stairway was open and unguarded, that the stairway created a dangerous condition to a 4-year-old and that Kaelie had fallen down steps in the past.

Richard Cusick is blamed in the death, according to the lawsuit, because he should have known that Sherrie Cusick couldn't reasonably provide adequate care and supervision of Kaelie while also attempting to care for seven other children in their home, and because he failed to provide a gate or other means of securing the open stairway.

After Kaelie's death, Teders "specifically requested" that her ex-husband not leave Anthony alone with Sherrie Cusick and that, despite her requests, "Richard Cusick left Anthony in the sole care of Sherrie Cusick."

On the day that Anthony died, a fire occurred in a coat closet near the front door of the Cusick home. Sherrie Cusick evacuated all of the children from the home except for Anthony and went to a neighbor's house, the suit claims.

The lawsuit alleges that Sherrie Cusick knew that Anthony was in the house and that he was last seen near the closet, but she failed to look in the closet before leaving the home. A neighbor discovered Anthony in the closet. The child suffered first-, second- and third-degree burns to his body, as well as carbon monoxide poisoning, as a result of the fire, according to court documents.

Sherrie Cusick is accused of negligence in Anthony's death because "she left him in a home which she knew was beginning to fill with smoke ... failed to properly supervise him while he was left in her care ... failed to diligently search for Anthony prior to leaving the home ... and allowed matches to remain in a location easily accessible to children."

Richard Cusick is alleged to be negligent for leaving Anthony "alone with Sherri Cusick, even after Kaelie's unusual death" and because he should have known that Sherrie Cusick would not provide safe or adequate care and supervision of Anthony.

Lisa Teders was the custodial parent of both children pursuant to a divorce decree entered on Nov. 23, 1993, and is entitled to maintain an action against the defendants in the wrongful deaths of her children, the lawsuit states. She is seeking an unspecified amount to compensate for the loss of the children's services, the loss of their love and companionship for the rest of her life, healthcare and hospital bills, funeral and burial expenses, and expenses for psychiatric and psychological counseling required for her because of the children's deaths. [[In-content Ad]]