First lawsuit filed in I-75 accident

One family of a child killed in the Jan. 3 multi-vehicle accident near Gainesville, Fla., has filed a lawsuit in Palm Beach County, Fla. It is the first of what is expected to be several lawsuits concerning the accident that killed seven people and injured eight.

Atlanta-based attorney Joseph Fried is representing Michael and Chasity Warren of Marksville, the parents of 14-year-old Jeremiah Warren. The suit was filed last Thursday (Jan. 10) in Palm Beach County, where truck driver Steve Holland lived.

Other victims’ families have also obtained legal representation.

Fried, who is nationally known for his expertise in tractor-trailer litigation, said it is important that the lawsuit is filed quickly.

“A lot of people think it is disrespectful or over-litigious,” Fried said of filing the lawsuit even before the victims’ funerals have been held, “but I think it is appropriate. The family needs to have someone involved in the case from the very beginning.”

With the lawsuit filed, he has legal standing to inspect the two tractor-trailer rigs involved in the accident and to obtain the driving records of the drivers, he said.

“This has been tragic for everybody,” Fried said. “Tractor-trailer accidents are different from other cases. They have to be investigated in a more significant way.”

The trucking company’s attorneys “are johnny-on-the-spot. They are a part of the investigation from the beginning. The victims’ families are grieving. There is a new normal in their lives. They will often wait to file suit and when they do a lot has already transpired.”

4-MONTH INVESTIGATION

Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Patrick Riordan said it could take four months to complete the official investigation of the accident.

The National Transportation Safety Bureau, which would normally conduct an investigation, has been delayed due to the federal government shutdown.

“We’ve done what we normally do in our protocol, which is notify the NTSB,” Riordan said.“We’re going to continue to do what our investigators do best.

“These are our experts, so we’re going to be open to whatever the NTSB needs,” Riordan continued, “but it’s not going to change what we do day in and day out under very difficult circumstances.”

FHP homicide investigators have been involved in the accident to determine if the facts of the case would make the tragic accident a vehicular homicide.

Riordan called the homicide investigators “the best of the best. There’s no doubt in my mind they’re going to be able to conclude what transpired in this tragic event.”

LAWSUIT DEFENDANTS

The suit names Holland, 59, of West Palm Beach, Fla., and truck driver Douglas Bolkema, 49, of Albuqueque, N.M., as defendants. Both men died in the accident on I-75.

Robyn Rattray of Gainesville, the driver of the northbound vehicle struck by Holland, is also named as a defendant. She was seriously injured in the accident.

In addition to those individuals, the lawsuit includes Holland’s employer, Eagle Express Lines, and Bolkema’s employer, Missouri-based New Prime Inc.

The fatal chain of events began around 3:45 p.m. on Jan. 3 when Holland’s big rig struck Rattray’s Honda in the northbound lanes of I-75 near Gainesville. The two vehicles crashed through the median guardrail into the southbound lanes.

Holland’s truck struck the Avoyelles House of Mercy church van, causing it to flip over multiple times and eject several of its 12 passengers.

The church group was on its way to Disney World with nine children and three adults.

Holland’s truck then struck Bolkema’s.

Those killed in the accident included both truck drivers and five children in the van: Warren, Brieanna Descant, Cara Descant, Joel Cloud and Cierra Bordelon.

Rattray and seven members of the House of Mercy church were seriously injured in the accident.

‘TERRIBLE TRAGEDY’

“This is a terrible, terrible tragedy for everyone,” Fried said. “I know your community is reeling.

“There will be classmates who sat next to these victims who will be changed by this,” Fried continued. “Some 50 years from now, a girl in that class may be sitting at home and something will remind her of her classmate who was lost in this tragedy.”

He said he has already “done a lot in a very little time. We have experts on the case. There is still a lot of work to be done.

“I just want to let your readers know that my heart is broken for Marksville.”