The City of Salina is denying liability in a lawsuit filed by the family of a child who died following an electrical shock.

Back on May 29th Jayden Hicks and a group of friends were playing during a rainstorm in puddles near Campbell Plaza when she was shocked. Four other children playing with her and a firefighter who was injured during the rescue were treated and released at Salina Regional Health Center.

Jayden died on December 31st.

A lawsuit was filed in February by the Hicks family against the city, and against a New Jersey company which made an electrical junction box in question. The lawsuit claims the box was not properly grounded, causing its metal cover to become electrified during the rainstorm.

The City of Salina released a statement Thursday afternoon:

“A February 20, 2014 article in the Salina Journal contained excerpts from a lawsuit filed on behalf of the Jayden Hicks family.  The excerpts appear to be quoting statements attributed to the City Electrician that could be interpreted out of context to suggest that he was aware prior to the incident that the sealed, subsurface electrical junction box was not grounded.  At the time of the incident, the City Electrician had been a City employee for less than five years and had not been assigned to the downtown electrical/lighting system prior to the incident.  The sealed, subsurface electrical junction box was installed in 1987 by an independent contractor as part of the downtown renovation project completed at that time.”

The lawsuit is asking for unspecified damages..