$2.15 million settlement: Drunken driver’s high-speed crash kills minor

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Action: Personal injury

Injuries alleged: Death

Case name: Withheld

Court/case no.: Withheld

Demand: $2.15 million

Amount: $2.15 million

Date: Dec. 12, 2023

Attorneys: Gedney Howe IV and Michael Monastra of Law Offices of Gedney M. Howe III, Charleston, and Christy Fargnoli and Sam Clawson of Clawson, Fargnoli, Utsey, Charleston (for the plaintiff)

Plaintiff, a minor, was the passenger in a vehicle being driven at an extremely high rate of speed by her boyfriend in July 2021. The vehicle entered an intersection and collided with another. Witnesses said the heard cries coming from plaintiff’s vehicle after the collision, but by the time EMS arrived, she had died. The second vehicle’s driver fled on foot and was the subject of a manhunt for several days.

An investigation revealed that both drivers had been drinking for several hours and were heavily intoxicated. Local police completed a very thorough investigation, ultimately uncovering footage of all parties drinking at nearby bars as well as footage of the collision itself.

After gathering the necessary evidence, a pre-suit demand was made for the policy limits from both bars and the involved vehicles, which totaled $2.15 million. The defendant bar ultimately agreed to tender its policy limits.