## Facts

- Tommy Baker, a minor, sued the City of Festus for wrongful death of his mother, Ruth Baker, alleging negligent maintenance of a bridge and adjacent sidewalk.
- On November 4, 1962, Ruth Baker left home around 11:00 a.m. to walk to her son’s house, carrying a paper sack containing food.
- About 45 minutes later, she was found face down in shallow water in a creek near a concrete bridge/viaduct where Henry Street crossed the creek.
- The bridge had a sidewalk with a concrete banister about hip high; at the north end there was an opening roughly 6–7 feet wide between the end of the banister and a fence, with an approximately 4-foot drop to the ground.
- The opening was not directly above the location where the body was found; the body was located about 10–12 feet away from the opening, and the drop from the bridge level to the water at the body’s location was about 7 feet.
- No witness saw the fall; there were no scuff marks or other physical indications on the bridge or sidewalk showing where she fell.
- Ruth Baker had a history of frequent epileptic seizures.
- Vegetation below the opening appeared undisturbed, and the sack she carried was found floating in the water immediately below the banister area rather than below the opening.
- The City presented no evidence; the trial court directed a verdict for the City at the close of the plaintiff’s case.

## Issues

1. Whether the plaintiff presented sufficient evidence for a reasonable jury to find that the sidewalk/bridge opening was the proximate cause of Ruth Baker’s fall and death, rather than an inference resting on speculation.
2. Whether the trial court properly directed a verdict for the City at the close of the plaintiff’s evidence.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of Missouri affirmed the directed verdict for the City.
- The evidence did not provide a substantial basis to infer that the alleged defect (the opening between banister and fence) probably caused the fall.
- Because the record supported multiple plausible causes (including a fall over the banister unrelated to the opening), submitting causation to the jury would have required guesswork.

## Legal Principles

- In negligence actions, proximate cause must be shown by evidence permitting a reasonable inference that the defendant’s conduct was the probable cause of the injury, not merely a possible cause.
- Circumstantial evidence is insufficient when it leaves the causal link equally consistent with competing explanations; liability cannot be based on conjecture.
- A directed verdict is proper when, even viewing the evidence most favorably to the plaintiff, the proof does not make a submissible case on causation.

## Conclusion

The court held that the plaintiff’s proof failed on proximate cause because the circumstantial evidence did not reasonably support that the bridge opening, rather than other plausible explanations, probably caused the decedent’s fall, so the directed verdict for the City was properly affirmed.


Baker v. City of Festus, 418 S.W.2d 957 (Mo. 1967)