An Ohio father has filed a lawsuit against Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus after his newborn daughter died following a fall inside the hospital, alleging that a preventable staff mistake set off the chain of events that led to her death.
Tyler Peyton filed the suit on January 23, 2026, in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, alleging medical negligence and misconduct in the 2025 death of his daughter, Ellieana Peyton. People reported that Peyton is seeking accountability from the hospital and a staff member involved in the incident.
Ellieana was born on March 4, 2025. Soon after delivery, she was diagnosed with congenital dilated cardiomyopathy and transferred the same day to the Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit (CTICU) for monitoring.
According to the complaint, clinicians documented that throughout her CTICU stay, Ellieana was stable in several key ways. She remained on room air, tolerated feedings, showed normal neurological exams, and did not need mechanical circulatory support. The filing says multiple echocardiograms indicated her heart function was normal or close to normal.
Doctors reportedly believed Ellieana was improving enough to be discharged on or before March 28. But on the evening of March 25, the lawsuit says, a patient care assistant left one side of Ellieana’s crib down while she was connected to wires that ran to a box in the assistant’s pocket.
When the assistant stepped away, the complaint alleges, tension on the cords pulled Ellieana toward the open side of the crib, causing her to fall approximately three to four feet to the floor.
A brain scan later showed Ellieana suffered a skull fracture, according to the complaint, and an exam noted swelling and bruising at the site of impact.
The lawsuit argues the injuries amounted to a traumatic brain injury in an infant already living with cardiomyopathy—raising the risk of circulatory instability, reduced organ perfusion, and oxygen-deprivation injury.
Ellieana’s condition deteriorated in the days that followed, WBNS reported. She experienced acute cardiopulmonary collapse and required prolonged CPR and intubation. Further testing showed brain damage linked to insufficient oxygen and blood flow, and her doctors ultimately determined her condition was irreversible after she showed no meaningful neurological recovery.
Ellieana was pronounced dead on March 31, 2025, at 27 days old.
The Franklin County Coroner’s Office ruled her manner of death an accident. Her cause of death was listed as congenital dilated cardiomyopathy complicated by blunt force head injuries sustained in a fall from a crib.
Ellieana is survived by her parents, Tyler Peyton and Mackenzie Marshall. In her obituary, they remembered her “most contagious smile that would light up the room,” along with the bright attention she gave to the people around her.
They also described a baby who recognized comfort instantly—turning her head at her mother’s laugh or searching for her father’s voice—while still having the tiny preferences of a newborn: disliking diaper changes, making her hunger known, and settling best in the arms of her family.
