Aunt who sued boy, 12: It was about insurance

Matthew Diebel | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Jury dismisses NY woman's lawsuit against nephew A New York woman attempted to sue her 12-year-old nephew for jumping into her arms for a hug, causing her to break her arm.

The aunt who unsuccessfully sued her nephew for breaking her wrist when he jumped into her arms at his eighth birthday party says the suit was meant to be "a simple homeowner's insurance case."

"I adore this child. I would never want to hurt him. He would never want to hurt me," Jennifer Connell told CNN, adding that, "Connecticut law is such that I was advised by counsel that this is the way a suit is meant to be worded."

The story of the dispute exploded on the Internet on Tuesday after Connell told a Bridgeport, Conn., court that "I was at a party recently, and it was difficult to hold my hors d'oeuvre plate" due to her injury. She sued Sean Tarala, now 12, for $127,000, a claim that was thrown out by a jury on Tuesday afternoon after about a half hour of deliberations.

#Auntfromhell is trending after a woman sued her 12-year-old nephew for breaking her wrist with a birthday hug. http://t.co/PL5S1y9TWE — NTRSCTN (@NTRSCTN) October 14, 2015

The law firm that handled her case, Jainchill & Beckert, put out a statement on Wednesday morning.

"From the start, this was a case was about one thing: getting medical bills paid by homeowner's insurance. Our client was never looking for money from her nephew or his family. It was about the insurance industry and being forced to sue to get medical bills paid. She suffered a horrific injury," the statement said.

"Prior to the trial, the insurance company offered her one dollar. Unfortunately, due to Connecticut law, the homeowner's insurance company could not be identified as the defendant.

"Our client was very reluctant to pursue this case, but in the end she had no choice but to sue the minor defendant directly to get her bills paid. She didn't want to do this anymore than anyone else would," the statement read. "But her hand was forced by the insurance company. We are disappointed in the outcome, but we understand the verdict. Our client is being attacked on social media. Our client has been through enough."

According to CNN, the boy refers to Connell, who lives in New York City. as his aunt, although she said he is the son of a cousin. Just a few weeks ago, Connell said, she took the Sean out shopping for a Halloween costume.

"It's amazing the power that the Internet has that something can go viral, completely out of context," she told the channel. "I'm certainly not trying to retire to some villa in the south of France. I'm simply trying to pay off my medical bills."

According to Connell's complaint, the incident occurred at the boy's birthday party in 2011.

On the witness stand, Connell, a human resources manager in Manhattan, testified she loves Sean, whom she described as always being "very loving" toward her, but believed he should take responsibility for her injury. The boy was in court with his father, Michael Tarala. His mother, Lisa Tarala, died last year.

According to testimony reported by the local Connecticut Post newspaper, Connell, who has no children of her own, arrived at the Tarala home in March 2011 to attend Sean's party. When he spotted Connell, he dropped his new bicycle on the ground and ran toward her calling out, "Auntie Jen, Auntie Jen."

"All of a sudden he was there in the air, I had to catch him and we tumbled onto the ground," Connell testified. "I remember him shouting, 'Auntie Jen I love you,' and there he was flying at me."

Although hurt, Connell told the jury, she didn't complain at the time. "It was his birthday party and I didn't want to upset him," she said.