COLUMBUS — A Zanesville father filed a medical negligence and wrongful death lawsuit against Nationwide Children’s Hospital (NCH) in Columbus for the death of his infant daughter last year.
Tyler Peyton, acting as the administrator of the estate of Ellieana Peyton, filed the lawsuit in the Franklin County Common Pleas Court on Jan. 27, according to our news partner WBNS.
The lawsuit said Ellieana was born at NCH on Mar. 4, 2025, and was diagnosed with a congenital dilated cardiomyopathy, a condition that can affect the heart’s ability to generate effective cardiac output.
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She was admitted to the Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit on the day she was born for monitoring.
Ellieana was on room air, tolerated her feedings, showed normal neurological examinations, and did not require any mechanical circulatory support.
She received multiple tests that showed normal heart function and was stable enough to go home on or around Mar. 28, 2025.
During an incident on Mar. 25, 2025, around 9:30 p.m., a patient care assistant allegedly left Ellieana’s left-facing crib rail down.
She was attached to wires that were connected to a box that the assistant had placed in their pocket, according to the lawsuit.
When the assistant moved away from the crib, the tension on the wires had pulled Ellieana over the open crib side, which caused her to fall three to four feet onto the floor, according to the lawsuit.
A head CT was performed the night of the incident, and it showed that Ellieana had suffered a skull fracture, with tenderness, swelling, and visible bruising to her head.
“These injuries represented a traumatic brain injury in an infant with pre-existing cardiomyopathy, placing Ellieana at significantly increased risk for circulatory instability, impaired organ perfusion, and hypoxic-ischemic injury,” the lawsuit states.
Ellieana’s condition worsened over the next few days.
The lawsuit says Ellienana suffered acute cardiopulmonary collapse and required prolonged CPR and intubation.
She also suffered brain damage due to a lack of oxygen and blood flow. The lawsuit said that Ellieana showed no meaningful neurological recovery and that her condition was not reversible.
Ellieana was pronounced dead on Mar. 31, 2025, at 27 days old.
The Franklin County Coroner’s Office ruled Ellieana’s manner of death as an accident.
Her cause of death was determined to be a congenital dilated cardiomyopathy that was complicated by blunt force head injuries due to a fall from a crib.
The lawsuit argues that NCH was negligent and reckless and failed to maintain a safe environment.
Our news partner WBNS reached out to NCH and received the following statement, stating it “cannot comment on pending litigation.”
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