Parents sue traveling carnival operator after 15-month-old dies from electrocution

WICHITA, Kan. -- The parents of a toddler who was fatally injured at a traveling carnival in Kansas have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the carnival's Missouri-based operator. CBS News affiliate KWCH-TV reports Shaun Bartonek and Rheannon Babcock -- the parents of 15-month-old Pressley Bartonek -- filed the lawsuit in November 2017 against Evans United Shows, which is a carnival business based in Missouri. 

The lawsuit seeks damages of more than $25,000.   

Authorities say Pressley died in May 2017 after she touched an electrically charged fence surrounding a bounce house at a carnival in Wichita, Kansas. 

An autopsy report says that a test by an electrical company showed 290 volts coming from the fence. According to KWCH-TV, Pressley sustained electrical burns on her left foot, a laceration to her tongue and a purple contusion on her left shoulder and lower right back. 

The coroner determined she "died as a result of electrocution." 

Attorney Russ Hazlewood is representing Evans United Shows in Plattsburg, Missouri. He says the lawsuit remains in the early stages and that the business has asked to have the case transferred to Kansas where some key witnesses are.