Boyfriend sues church after falling stone kills woman

The boyfriend of a woman who was killed last week when a piece from a stone gargoyle fell from a historic South Loop church and hit her in the head has sued the church and the Presbytery of Chicago.

The lawsuit was filed today in Cook County Circuit Court by Lance Johnson, who was walking with the victim, Sarah Bean, when she was fatally struck by the falling stone.

The lawsuit claims that the Second Presbyterian Church of Chicago and the Presbytery of Chicago, which oversees Presbyterian churches in Chicago, were negligent in their ownership of the church building by allowing the exterior wall to exist in a dangerous and unrepaired condition.

The lawsuit states that Bean is survived by two children, both minors. Johnson is the father of one of the children, according to the lawsuit.

The incident happened at around noon last Thursday. According to Chicagos buildings department, a piece of decorative metal came loose from the outside wall of the church at 1936 S. Michigan Ave., a century-old building that had been hit with a number of building violations.

The metal knocked off a chunk of stone from a gargoyle jutting from a corner of the churchs southeast corner, city officials said at the time, hitting Bean on the head and killing her. The lawsuit draws the same scenario as that given by the city on the day of the incident.

A day after the incident, repairs were being made on the building.

The church was built in 1874 and failed a string of inspections between 2007 and 2011 for violations that included failing to remove obstruction from building exits and failing to maintain an interior stairway system in safe condition, city records show.

The building passed inspections in 2012 and 2013, records show.

Johnsons lawyers could not immediately be reached for comment.

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Boyfriend sues church after falling stone kills woman