Family Sues Over Death of Retired State Trooper in Tuscaloosa County Wreck
The surviving family members of a retired Alabama State Trooper who was killed in a multi-vehicle accident last summer have sued the other drivers involved.
As the Thread first reported after the wreck in August, Daryl Wayne Brown, Sr. was killed after a multi-vehicle wreck - police say he was driving a 2012 Hyundai Accent on Interstate 20/59 when he was struck by a Mazda 6S, which was reportedly traveling over 100 miles per hour.
The driver of the Mazda, 29-year-old Daaron M. Crooks, has since been indicted for Brown's manslaughter. In addition to driving 107 miles per hour, he was reportedly intoxicated at the time of the crash.
The initial collision left Brown's Hyundai disabled in the far right lane of I-20/59, where he was then struck by a Bravo Express tractor-trailer being driven by Luis Remberto Garcia, Jr., a professional truck driver from the state of Georgia.
Witnesses and a State Trooper report say the 18-wheeler never braked before striking the disabled Hyundai, which attorneys say shows Garcia was following too closely and could have been distracted at the time of impact.
Brown was killed at the scene, and now, eight months after he died, the law firm Prince Glover Hayes has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against both Crooks and Garcia. This civil court proceeding will develop separately than the criminal case against Crooks for manslaughter.
"Mr. Brown was a proud son, brother, husband, and father, and served over 28 years as an Alabama State Trooper," attorney Josh Hayes said. "At the time of his wrongful death, Mr. Brown was a member of the security team at the Richard Shelby Federal Building and Courthouse in Tuscaloosa."
The wrongful death suit accuses Crooks of wrongful death and negligent or wanton entrustment. Counts 3 and four accuse Garcia of the same, as well as one count of negligent or wanton hiring, supervision, training or retention against Bravo Express, the transportation company that employed him.
For more coverage of the case and other crime & court news in West Alabama, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.
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