PIKESVILLE, Md. -- A woman moved into a Baltimore County condominium, thinking it would be her retirement home and a quiet place to live with her husband. But soon, her family started dying of cancer and she's suing the builder -- blaming the mold.
 
WBAL-TV 11 News reporter Darrielle Snipes reported Juanita Coleman said it's no coincidence that her family -- and even her pet -- contracted cancer. Her condominium council conducted tests showing mold was in several units due to defective construction.
 
Coleman said she had to move out before she died like her husband, her father, and her dog. She said water would come into through the wall and into the family room.
 
But the water, which she said caused mold, did more than destroy Coleman's retirement home located inside the Gray Rocks Flats Condominium in Pikesville. She said it also caused cancer.
 
Juanita moved in with her husband, Paul, in 1996. She didn't know mold was growing inside her home for many years.
 
"Our dog started showing signs first and actually treated him for lymphoma," Coleman said.
 
Snipes reported that Mr. Jiggs had to be put down in May 2001. In the fall of that year, Juanita found out she had carcinoid cancer, which attacked her bowel and spread to her liver. Then on New Year's Eve, doctors told her husband he had colon cancer.
 
Bill Stolins, Juanita's father, became so ill he couldn't attend his son-in-law's funeral. He was battling the same cancer as his daughter and doctors determined it wasn't genetic. Juanita's attorney said it's the mold that caused all of them to get sick.
 
"I am so angry at the fact someone would build a place that was not a safe place for people to live in that would shorten my time with someone special with me," Coleman said.
 
Juanita's filed a lawsuit against the builder -- Rocky Gorge Communities. She wants them to take responsibility.
Now, she's left to battle an illness without a father she loved so much and without a man she called her rock. Juanita's cancer is now dormant and she hasn't lived inside her home for three years.
 
Snipes attempted to contact the builder at the center of the lawsuit, but neither the company nor its lawyers returned our call. She reported that Rocky Gorge Communities settled a multimillion dollar lawsuit with the condominium council -- who claimed defective construction -- and other residents who were also diagnosed with cancer.
 

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