Lawsuits Ask Huge Damage Payments For Family Of 4, Dalton State Official Who Died In Wreck At Ooltewah Exit
Two lawsuits filed in behalf of a family of four as well as an official at Dalton State College who suffered horrific deaths near the Ooltewah exit of I-75 last June 25 are asking that huge damages be paid.
The lawsuits filed in Hamilton County Circuit Court, in addition to suing the truck driver and trucking firm, also are filed against an additional trucking firm as well as those involved in a construction project that halted traffic.
One suit is filed in behalf of Tiffany Watts and her mother Sandra Anderson. Another is for the children of Ms. Watts, Kelsie and Savannah Garrigues.
Two others were killed when truck driver Benjamin Brewer slammed into the rear of a line of vehicles, including Jason Ramos, director of residence life at Dalton State College.
Ms. Watts, who was driving, died at the scene after being ejected from the vehicle. The car caught fire and Ms. Anderson and the girls died in the vehicle before they could be rescued.
Chattanooga attorney Morgan G. Adams is asking $50 million each for the lives of the two girls, who had just been picked up after flying in from California to spend the summer in Tennessee. He is asking another $10 million in behalf of their father, Nicholas Garrigues.
Attorneys James Simpson and Kirk Caraway of Memphis and Tim Dollar and Jeff Burns of Kansas City, Mo., are asking a total of $134 million in connection with the deaths of Ms. Watts and Ms. Anderson. That includes $12.5 million for the estate of Ms. Watts, $14.5 million for Rick Watts and next of kin, $12.5 million for the estate of Ms. Anderson and $14.5 million for Terry Spoon and next of kin, plus $20 million in punitive damages each for the two estates and the next of kin of each.
A suit filed by Patricia Ramos, mother of Jason Ramos, asks a total of $115 million. It was filed by attorney Andrew Young of Cleveland, Ohio, and attorney Matthew Wright of Franklin, Tn.
Attorneys in the cases apparently are working closely together as the wording is very similar in the complaints and the defendants are the same.
All the suits say current limitations on compensatory payouts in Tennessee are unconstitutional and should be lifted.
Defendants include Brewer and the Kentucky trucking firm he was driving for, Cool Runnings Express, as well as Cool Runnings operators Billy and Cretty Sizemore. The suits say Cool Runnings was making a food delivery for Marten Transport and it is also liable. Also sued are Talley Construction, Superior Traffic Control of Memphis and Martin's Peterbilt of East Kentucky, which allegedly did not correctly repair the truck.
Plaintiffs in the Watts/Anderson case are Rick Watts, husband of Ms. Watts, and Terry Spoon, brother of Ms. Anderson.
Other lawsuits filed in the case have wound up in Chattanooga Federal Court.
The suits say Marten Transport contacted Cool Runnings to make a food delivery from Horse Cave, Ky., to Haines City, Fla. The suits say Brewer left on June 22, 2015, though he advised there was a problem with the brakes. He was directed to take the vehicle to Martin's Peterbilt in London, Ky., to have the brakes fixed.
The vehicle had to be returned to Martin's Peterbilt for a second repair - on the fuel delivery system - prior to Brewer starting the trip from Kentucky, it was stated.
Brewer, who was said to be traveling at 77 mph at the time of the crash, later said that he tried to stop, but his brakes failed.
The suits say Brewer was already far behind his original delivery schedule, "but Marten failed and refused to reschedule the delivery."
They say on the morning of June 24 that Brewer sideswiped another vehicle in Florida after he had been "on duty" for 45 hours straight. It says he started back toward Kentucky at 4:30 a.m. on June 25 after the vehicle was repaired.
At the time of the crash, Brewer was on meth and suffering from sleep deprivation, it was stated.
