A trial will begin Monday in a wrongful death suit filed against Monarch Homes. Brooks Builders, and Consolidated Concrete and Masonry are also named as 3rd party defendants.
It comes 2 1/2 years after 10-year-old Jaymi Wendt was killed in the Rogers' tornado.
In the suit, lawyers for Wendt's mother contend "the defective and negligent construction practices of Defendant and/or its subcontractors permitted the house to move off of its foundation and onto Jaymi Marie Wendt, which caused her death."
Lawyers for Monarch Homes and Consolidated Concrete and Masonry told KARE 11 they would not comment on the lawsuit before the trial.
Counsel for the family will argue in court that the home's "wind force resistant system" was inadequate.
They say they will also present evidence that bolts that were supposed to keep the garage connected to the foundation were not set deep enough into the mortar which caused the chain of events that led to Jaymi's death.
Ten-year-old Jaymi and her 19 year old brother were at a neighbor's home taking care of that family's young children when the tornado hit Rogers just before 10 p.m.
All four people in the home were on their way to the basement when the tornado lifted the home off its foundation and crushed Jaymi, lawyers for the plaintiff say.
Plaintiff attorneys also say the home the Wendts were in was the only one in the neighborhood to blow off its foundation and was the only home in the neighborhood built by Monarch Homes.
A lawyer with intimate knowledge of this case wondered aloud Wednesday, saying "how do you sue a company for a tornado killing somebody."
The Wendt's attorney says he will introduce expert testimony suggesting straight line winds, not a tornado, managed to rip the home off its foundation. The National Weather Service rated the weather event an F2 tornado.
Hennepin County Judge Deborah Hedlund will preside over the case. She has set 8 days aside on her calender to hear arguments, which begin Monday.
Click here to read the National Weather Service report about the Rogers tornado
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