Family claims in lawsuit that Buckhead hotel left mother for dead inside room

ATLANTA — A local family is suing a Buckhead hotel after they say the hotel staff left their mother to die.

Natalie Burson says grief overwhelms her when she thinks about her mother, Joanne Burson.

The mother lived at the Residence Inn hotel in Buckhead for several months while her home underwent repairs.

In Oct. 2018, Natalie said she suddenly couldn’t get in touch with her mother.

“For us not to talk several times a day is not normal,” Natalie said.

According to a lawsuit Natalie filed last week, she asked the hotel staff to check on her mother and staff members falsely assured her that her mother was fine.

But Natalie wasn’t convinced and threatened to have the police do a wellness check, according to the lawsuit.

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She said that’s when the staff told her that her mother fell inside her room and was rushed to a hospital.

Natalie’s attorney Lloyd Bell said a short time later, Joanne Burson died from an infected bed sore on her hip.

“She laid there for days according to the doctors,” Bell said.

Natalie believes the staff never checked on her mother.

Now she’s suing to get answers because she said the hotel won’t give her any.

“It’s been two years that I’ve been living with this,” Natalie said.

Channel 2′s Audrey Washington called the hotel and its parent company, Marriott, on Wednesday for a comment on this story. She was transferred to several different offices. Washington also emailed and sent a tweet to the company’s media relations people.

Hours later, Washington received an email from a representative, who promised to forward her inquiry to the franchise management company that operates the hotel.

At last check, no one has responded back.

Natalie and her attorney said the hotel has 30 days to respond to their lawsuit.

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