Family Of Man Killed By Fallen Tree In Burlingame Files Lawsuit

BURLINGAME, CA — The family of Kahlil Gay, a 23-year-old physics researcher who died after being crushed by a tree in February at his Burlingame office, filed a wrongful death lawsuit Tuesday against the property owner and various Bay Area landscaping companies.

The lawsuit alleged that the property owner and the landscaping companies connected to the property failed to take care of the tree, which the family claimed was decaying and in a dangerous condition. The lawsuit, filed in San Mateo County Superior Court, seeks general and economic damages but did not specify an amount.

“Had anybody done a reasonable and diligent inspection of this tree prior to the date that we lost Kahlil, it would’ve been obvious to them that this was a tree that needed to go,” said Robert Glassman, an attorney for the Gay family, in a news briefing Tuesday in Los Angeles. “Unfortunately, they did not do that. And because they did not do that, Kahlil lost his life. And this family suffered an unimaginable loss that will haunt them for the rest of their lives.”

Gay was walking with a co-worker to a meeting on the afternoon of Feb. 26 at the offices of Color Genomics in Burlingame. It was cold and windy as the end of a workday neared on a Friday.

Gay was in just his fourth day with Color Genomics, a health technology company that delivers COVID-19 testing to patients and test sites. Gay was happy and enjoying his first job out of college, glad to be tasked with helping people and paying it forward, according to family members.

The unthinkable happened next.

As Gay was walking in between buildings, a tree suddenly snapped, falling on top of him. The tree, a 25-foot-high Brazilian peppertree, pinned Gay to the ground, according to a police report. He was unresponsive and in a seated position, his head in between his legs. The co-worker, with the help of two others, tried to lift the tree to no avail. Police arrived within minutes, but Gay was pronounced dead at the scene.

“We are here today because we want our story to get out there,” said Tunisia Peden-Gay, Gay’s mother. “We want the world to know that our son was taken way too soon based on something that could have been prevented.”

Peden-Gay said that she spoke to her son on the day he died. He would call her four to five times a day. He was bubbly, excited about his life, his journey.

“Mom, I am so happy,” Gay would say to his mother. “Allah has granted me to do his work, to be able to help people.”

Gay attended nearby California State University, East Bay, where he majored in physics. Family members described him as kind and brilliant and a man of honor. A week before his death, he visited his family in Southern California to tell them about his new job.

“That morning, he called us, and we were talking about the whole desk job thing, which was new to him,” said Gay’s father, Darryl Gay. “He was saying he really liked it. He was excited. It was probably going to take him places, and it was one of the first opportunities in an actual field that he studied.”

Glassman said at the news briefing that the tree had “serious” root rot and was planted too close to the tree next to it, leaving it prone to falling over because the top of the tree became lopsided and asymmetrical.

The family also alleged in the lawsuit that the tree had stopped producing fruit in 2015 and had been in “serious” decline since 2019, with its foliage thinning. Glassman called the windy conditions on Feb. 26 the “straw that finally broke the camel’s back.”

“You had a ticking time bomb there, really,” Glassman said. “With all of these conditions that made this tree weak, that compromised its structural integrity, and then something came by like wind and finally pushed it over its edge.”

Brisa Zamudio, a spokesperson for Gachina Landscaping, which provided landscaping services on the property, said, “Our sincere condolences go to the family of Kahlil Gay.”

“Our hearts go out to the family of Kahlil Gay,” said Luann O’Brien, a spokesperson for Arborwell, which provided tree-related services on the property. “We are in the process of investigating this truly unfortunate accident.”

The other defendants in the lawsuit — including Alexandria Real Estate Equities, which is listed in state records as the owner of the property — did not respond to Patch's request for comment.

In a statement after Gay’s death, the city of Burlingame said it was “extremely saddened” by Gay’s tragic death. "They are in our thoughts during this somber time,” the city said.

Gay’s uncle, Joseph Peden, said that Gay was “on a trajectory to impact the world with his talents and gifts.”

“We have asked ourselves the question over and over again,” Peden said. “Why do bad things happen to good people? Why did that tree have to fall and kill our beloved Kahlil?"