We can recognize the pure tragedy of a 17-year-old entering his senior year of high school - while not missing the important teaching moment the tragedy holds for parents and their children.
Jacque St. Ann, 17, recently fell down stairs high up in the long-abandoned Plaza Tower building in downtown New Orleans. Jacque died from his injuries. Unknown to much of New Orleans - the blighted Plaza Tower had become a site for “urban exploring.” URBAN EXPLORING is defined as the recreational activity of visiting and documenting abandoned, or off-limits structures - like: factories, schools, hospitals, houses, and skyscrapers. The Plaza Tower is an abandoned skyscraper that was a thriving office building in New Orleans. The building consists of 45 floors and rises over 500 feet into the air. It is a perfect site for urban exploring.
The Plaza Tower is currently owned by the estate of the late developer Joe Jaeger through Alexandra Land & Development. Over the years - there has been controversy surrounding Jaeger’s ownership of the building because of his failure to do more to sell or develop the property. The Plaza Tower has remained an abandoned building since 2014. The square building with a unique hat-type top has been a unique part of the New Orleans skyline since 1969. In 2023 - an unidentified man fell to his death from an upper floor of the building. And recently - Jacque St. Ann fell down stairs in the building and died.
Please note that any discussion about responsibility in the tragic death of St. Ann does not erase the tragedy of a high school senior falling to his death.
A team of lawyers has been hired by the family of the victim in an effort to seek justice in his death. I can do all I can to understand the depth of the grief of the family of Jacque St. Ann - but having never been through such a tragedy - I admit I don’t know exactly what that is like. But it is easy to imagine the nightmare a tragedy like this brings to a family.
What does the law say?
In the state of Louisiana - as well as across the country - the law generally holds individuals who trespass accountable for their actions - even if there are no fences and no No Trespassing signs posted. The law understands that any building is owned by someone or some entity and any abandoned building and any individual who enters an abandoned building is guilty of trespassing and the owners of the building are not at fault if the individual has an accident. There is no legal requirement to fence in the building or post signs - the law considers individuals accountable for trespassing in the first place.
The law has taken into consideration the age of the individual who trespasses on abandoned property and in the case of young children - the owner of the property will likely be held accountable. But the question will be if a 17-year-old is old enough to be aware of what he did - or if he should be considered a child. I had a number of texts into my talk show on WWL making the point that if the individual is considered a child - then where are their parents?
The main variable that would hold property owners totally accountable would be if they created a lure into the building - other than the building just being abandoned - and actually set traps that would harm anyone who entered.
What the attorney says -
Respected local attorney - Cedric Richmond - who is part of the legal team representing the family - said: “No one broke into the building. The building, for lack of a better description, was wide open. The fence was open. That is a new permanent fence that you see up. That fence should have been up a long time ago when someone fell to their death in 2023.”
It was surprising to discover that the law generally states that abandoned properties need not be secured by fences or any means to prevent someone from walking in and assumes that it is obvious that the building is abandoned and unless an individual has written permission to enter the property - then the property owners are not accountable. It can be argued that the law is not fair - but that’s the law.
Most of the response from listeners who texted or called into the show agreed that it was a tragedy - but also understood that any 17-year-old would understand the dangers of climbing up to the upper floors of an abandoned building.
It is often convenient to find someone - anyone - to blame for a tragedy. But in this legal “blame game” that will play out - let us not fail to use this as an example of what teenagers should not do - even if the temptation to explore and document - usually for social media clicks - becomes overwhelming.
Let’s not be naive - teenagers will not tell you everything they do - but don’t parents have a responsibility when tragedies happen to talk to their kids about how they might think nothing will happen to them - but if they put themselves in a dangerous situation they have no control over what MIGHT happen to them?
The concept of urban exploring is entering a situation that is dangerous and the videos or pictures that document that someone was there will attract a lot of social media attention. But the benefits of social media clicks are never worth risking one’s life.
I am deeply sorry for the loss these parents are enduring - but maybe this tragedy can prevent other similar tragedies if parents take the time to remind their children - especially their teenagers - that the thrill that lures teenagers into a dangerous setting can be the thrill that kills.
