Mom sues over girl's death in washer

The mother of a 5-year-old Virginia girl who drowned in a coin-operated washer has sued the machine's maker and the laundry.

The lawsuit claims that the Pellerin Milnor Corp. of Louisiana was aware that its coin-operated machines would often start running when the door was shut, even though no coins had been deposited, the Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch reported. The door also locks when the machine is operating, making rescue difficult, the suit claims.

Rebecca Hope Wagoner died of asphyxiation June 17 in a washing machine at the Village Laundry in Chilhowie, Va.

Hope's 14-year-old half-brother has been charged with involuntary manslaughter. He allegedly shut the door after the little girl climbed into a machine while their mother was using a pay telephone to call for a ride. Rebecca Wagoner had to use a rock to break the machine's glass door to get her daughter out.

Jeff Campbell, a lawyer representing Rebecca Wagoner, said that at least five children around the country have been trapped in Milnor washing machines, including a boy who was fatally scalded.

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