Drinking when you are over the age of 21 is not illegal. Drinking and driving at any age is. Each year thousands of Americans are killed in drunk-driving related car accidents. Each year thousands of those killed are children.
Our wrongful death lawyers know that of all the children’s wrongful deaths for kids under 14, over 20 percent of the wrongful deaths occur in drunk-driving accidents.
Tragically, 13-year-old Tampa Bay native Shelby Stone became another DUI statistic when she was killed by a drunk driver while driving in her grandparents minivan. Shelby was riding with her grandparents, Larry and Deborah Wynn, when Christopher Marcone ran a stop sign and side-swiped the right side of the van. It was later found that Marcone’s blood alcohol level was 0.207 — more than twice the legal limit.
Marcone was convicted to 13-years in a federal penitentiary after he plead guilty to DUI manslaughter and three related charges in the wrongful death of Shelby.
Though nothing can bring back her daughter, Angela Stone — Shelby’s mother — filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Christopher Marcone. In a record setting settlement, the jury awarded Stone $330 million in her wrongful death lawsuit. Marcone will have to pay Stone a record wrongful death settlement — $55 million in compensatory damages and $275 million in punitive damages.
“That has to be one of the largest verdicts in the state of Florida,” said Tom Carey, a Clearwater lawyer and past president of local chapters of Mothers Against Drunk Driving and Remove Intoxicated Drivers. “And it sends a message to future drunk drivers that the public is just not going to tolerate this anymore.”
Recently Stone filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Kia Motors alleging that a design defect in the seat belt and harness also contributed to Shelby’s wrongful death. Shelby was wearing her seat belt at the time of the drunk-driving car accident, but her head got stuck in the seat belt.
If you know someone who has a problem with alcohol and often drives themselves home intoxicated, there are several ways to prevent drunk driving from taking the lives of your friends and family members.
Our wrongful death lawyers know that while nothing can bring back the loss of a loved one after a fatal drunk-driving car accident you can hold those who caused their death responsible with a wrongful death lawsuit.
Call us now at 1-800-655-6585 or click here for a free consultation with an experienced car accident attorney and find out how we can help you. We speak English and Spanish, and we look forward to providing advice for your case. No fee if no recovery.
About Michael PinesMichael Pines is a former insurance company attorney who specializes in car accident injury. While he was an insurance attorney, he learned from behind the scenes on how insurance companies work and how they decided to pay injured people. Now that he works against insurance companies, Michael's inside knowledge has resulted in significant benefits to his clients injured in car accidents.
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