‘Doesn’t seem real’: Family at center of Lexington explosion reeling with one loss after another
LEXINGTON, Mo. (KCTV) - Nicole Gentry-Lovellette spoke calmly as she talked about the awful explosion that killed her 5-year-old great-nephew, Alistair Cunningham, and sent his dad and sister to the hospital with critical burns. Then, she realized she was talking about Alastair in the present tense, and her valiant effort to keep it all together crumbled.
“It doesn’t seem real,” she said. “I was first told that he was found and that he was in the hospital with the other two.”
The City of Lexington was chaotic Wednesday night after the home in the center of town exploded with Jake Cunningham and his two young children, Cami and Alistair, inside.
Nicole’s sister Cathie, Jake’s mother, drove past the house as it was still burning to get to the hospital as fast as she could.
Jake and Cami were sent to Research Medical Center and Children’s Mercy Hospital. On Thursday, Cathie returned to break the news that Alistair did not survive.
“He knew Alistair was still in the house, He did know Alistair was still in the house and that he couldn’t find him,” Nicole said. “Up until this evening, Jake and Cami did not know that Alistair had passed. They assumed he was just in another hospital room.”
Alistair was a joyful child who loved anything Spider-Man.
“He is happy to show anybody that’s willing to watch him do his latest Spider-Man pose and just sing songs,” Nicole said.
Ten-year-old Cami is a 4th-grader who likes playing games on her tablet, drawing, coloring and anything Disney princess.
Cami is still on a ventilator, Nicole said. Doctors’ prognoses change regularly, but at last word, she was told Cami would be hospitalized for several months and Jake for several weeks. He’s a butcher by trade who works with his hands. He was working for a Price Chopper in Liberty, Missouri. Nicole said his hands were severely burned and there is concern he might lose them.
“We’re just all praying that the doctors that know what they’re doing and know how to care for these type of injuries are able to help him recover and maintain the use of his hands,” Nicole said.
WHAT HAPPENED
City leaders said a subcontractor for United Fiber fractured a gas line at 5:30 p.m. Liberty Utilities arrived and began digging into the pavement to get to the gas line to repair it.
Neighbors described the area in an alley as blocked off with police and a fire department crew standing by as the gas company crew was digging. Then, at 7:45 p.m. their houses shook. The explosion leveled the Cunningham’s home. Two others caught fire. Windows were blown out down the block.
Neighbors expressed outrage and disbelief. Why wasn’t gas service shut off before they began digging? Why weren’t people evacuated then as a precaution?
The city hasn’t given clear answers to those questions.
OSHA is now investigating the subcontractor, contractor and gas company.
“It happened to a lot of people, not just Jacob and his kids,” said Nicole. “Those other families have had things happen to their homes, and they have suffered losses too. I haven’t heard that anybody else was injured, so I’m thankful for that, but there’s a lot of property damage, and for some for something that, in my opinion, could have been avoided.”
‘UNIMAGINABLE’ SERIES OF LOSSES
It was hard not to notice the swing set behind the house that’s now just a set of concrete steps, bricks and jagged lumber. The family lost everything. Jake will get out of the hospital with no home, no car, no clothes.
Barely more than a year ago, Rachel, his wife and mother of his children died from complications related to her type 1 diabetes.
The couple were high school sweethearts. Jake left to serve in the military. When he returned, they reconnected and started a family. In December of 2023, they decided to make it official. She died two days later. Jake didn’t have the money for a formal service. The funeral home behind their house offered a payment plan to handle arrangements.
Earlier this week, he got his tax refund and made the last payment.
“My sister called me earlier this week as a positive note that he finally had enough money to pay off the funeral home to get her ashes and was able to bring her home where she belonged with him and the kids,” Nicole said. “And this happens, like, where are the ashes? They’re gone now too.”
HOW TO HELP
Nicole has set up a GoFundMe. The family has also set up an account at Bank Midwest Bank 1211 Main Street, Lexington, MO 64067 c/o Catherine Woods (Cathie).
“He already struggled to pay off Rachel’s expenses from her death, so we know that there’s not just cash laying around to be able to bury Alistair,” Nicole said.
Less than a day after starting the online fundraiser, $25,000 had been donated by more than 300 people. It will probably be some time before they make funeral arrangements because they want to be sure Jake and Cami can be there.
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