Attorneys for the family of a woman killed in the Eaton Fire filed a wrongful death lawsuit Monday against Southern California Edison.
The suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court alleges the utility’s transmission lines ignited the devastating wildfire in January that caused the deaths of 19 people, scorched over 14,000 acres and impacted over 10,000 structures. The lawsuit names Genasys Inc., Southern California Edison Co. and Edison International as defendants.
Stacey Elizabeth Darden, 54, died Jan. 8 in her Altadena home at 2528 N. Marengo Ave., a few blocks west of Lake Avenue, during the firestorm fueled by intense Santa Ana winds.
Attorneys Douglas Boxer and Mikal Watts filed the suit on behalf of Darden’s sister Geraldine “Gerry” Darden and as a representative of Darden’s estate.
“We are not litigious,” Gerry Darden said in a statement. “Our family thought long and hard about the decision to file a lawsuit. Edison started this fire, and Genasys never warned her that she was in danger. My sister was studiously following the evacuation orders the night of the Eaton Fire. The truth is that if these companies had done what they were supposed to do, Stacey would be alive today.”
SCE spokesperson Gabriela Ornelas said, “We understand the tremendous impacts on the community and our hearts are with everyone who was affected by the Southern California wildfires. We are reviewing the lawsuit that has been filed and will respond through the legal process.”
During the evening of Jan. 7 and into the early morning hours of the next day, Stacey and Gerry Darden consistently checked news reports for Eaton Fire evacuation zones to confirm that it was safe for Stacey to remain in her home, the lawsuit contends. Darden’s home was “not included in an Evacuation Zone / ‘Polygon.'”
While residents east of Lake Avenue received an evacuation advisory, evacuation warning and two evacuation orders, people in west Altadena, including Stacey Darden, were led to believe evacuation was not necessary, according to court papers.
Stacey Darden’s last cell phone activity is believed to have been around 3:30 a.m. Jan. 8, attorneys reported. The single communication regarding an evacuation for the area relevant to Darden’s house was a mandatory order issued more than two hours later at 5:43 a.m.
Eighteen of the 19 Altadena residents who died in the blaze lived west of Lake Avenue.
“Stacey did everything our community asks of a responsible neighbor in a wildfire, she stayed informed, followed the rules, and trusted that if she was in danger, she would be told to get out,” Watts said in a statement. “Instead, Southern California Edison ignited this fire, and Genasys left Stacey and her neighbors west of Lake Avenue omitted from the designated alert zone. By the time an evacuation order was finally pushed to her phone, it was too late.”
Watts added, “This is not a tragedy of bad luck, this is a tragedy of corporate failures, and that is why we filed this lawsuit.”
Genasys runs the emergency alert system in the Los Angeles area, nationwide and in 100 countries, according to the company.
Spokesman Robert Putnam said the company’s attorneys are reviewing the lawsuit.
“Genasys denies any wrongdoing and will vigorously defend itself against these allegations,” he said in a an email to HeySoCal.com.
Stacey Darden was born May 19, 1970, in Philadelphia, and her family moved to Southern California in 1978.
Darden participated in the Mentally Gifted Minors program at Pomelo Elementary and also attended Elliott Jr. High School in Altadena and Pasadena High School, according to local advocacy organization LA Fire Justice. Her lifelong love of libraries was born, in part, by spending nearly all her free time at the Altadena Library, where she and her sister went to study and read.
Darden graduated from Bryn Mawr College with a political science degree and worked in library and information science, including at the Caltech Library.
She was an avid consumer of political news and current events, according to LA Fire Justice. She voraciously read the Los Angeles Times every day and regularly tuned into local radio outlets such as KPCC/LAist 98.3, KCRW, KJLH 102.3 and NPR.
She was the sister of former O.J. Simpson prosecutor Christopher Darden.
“When I joined LA Fire Justice, I promised this community that we would hold wrongdoers accountable for the devastation caused by the Eaton Fire,” former state Assemblyman and LA Fire Justice CEO Chris Holden said in a statement. “We cannot bring back the lives that were lost, but we can fight to make sure this never happens again. Filing this lawsuit is an essential step toward justice, change and accountability.”
Pasadena-based LA Fire Justice is a coalition that includes consumer advocate Erin Brockovich, wildfire lawyers, fire causation experts, insurance specialists and community organizers.
The cause of the Eaton Fire remains under investigation, but independent probes, including one by LA Fire Justice, point to improperly electrified Edison transmission lines as the culprit.
Updated Nov. 18, 2025, 8:45 a.m.
