Posted on Jan 30, 2006
Jury awards $8.7million in crash that killed 3
Driver never faced criminal charges
Cincinnati Enquirer
COVINGTON, Ky. -- A multiple-fatality wreck blamed on a driver choking on a cup of coffee led to an $8.7 million jury verdict last week in U.S. District Court.
The head-on collision on June 6, 2002, on Interstate 75 in Grant County was triggered when the driver of a northbound tractor-trailer carrying milk lost control of his rig, crossed the median and crashed into southbound traffic.
Truck driver Kenneth Chandler, 43, of Bryan, Ohio, told investigators he passed out after choking on coffee.
Heather McNay of Erlanger; her 10-month-old son, Evan Embry; and McNay's mother, Norma J. Young of Covington, were killed. Two others were injured.
Chandler was never criminally charged.
On Thursday, the jurors awarded $2.7 million to each of McNay's two older children for the loss of their mother. The children were 7 and 3½ at the time of their mother's death.
Jurors also awarded the estate of the 10-month-old son $1.8 million for his lost earnings. The father of the 10-month-old, Edmond Embry, got $1.5 million.
The defendants in the suit were Chandler, GEO Transportation and Dairy Farmers of America.
The company's insurance carriers have filed suit against each other in a dispute over who is responsible for paying the claim.
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