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Love’s Mom Sues Lacrosse Coach Over her Daughter’s Death
Sharon Love Filed a Wrongful Death Suit Against Three UVA Athletic Officials The mother of slain University of Virgnia lacrosse star Yeardley Love is suing the coaches of the men's lacrosse team for ignoring George Huguely's assaults on other students, including another female student. The $30 million wrongful death suit implies that the coaches overlooked Huguely's menacing behavior because he was a star on their nationally ranked lacrosse team. The suit also names UVA, the university's athletic director and the state of Virginia as defendants. Huguely, 25, killed Love, 22, in a drunken rage in May 2010 just weeks before she was to graduate. Both Huguely and Love were star lacrosse players on the university's elite teams. Huguely was found guilty of second-degree murder and grand larceny. He has not yet been sentenced. The suit was filed in the Circuit Court for the County of Louisa in Virginia on Tuesday under the name of Love's mother Sharon Love, listed as the administrator of her daughter's estate. Love asks for $29,450,000 in compensatory damages, plus interest. She filed a similar lawsuit last week against Huguely for $30 million. The defendants named include men's lacrosse head coach Dom Starsia, associate head coach Marc Van Arsdale and UVA director of athletics Craig Littlepage. "It was well known to the players and coaches on the UVA men's and women's lacrosse teams that Huguely's alcohol abuse and erratic, aggressive behavior was increasingly getting out of control, especially his obsession with Love and his aggressiveness and threats to Love," the lawsuit states. The coaches and director are charged with three counts of negligence and gross negligence for not disciplining Huguely after several attacks on fellow students. The lawsuit alleges that no action was taken "to discipline Huguely, to suspend or remove Huguely from the lacrosse team, to refer Huguely for treatment or counseling for alcohol/substance abuse or anger/aggressive behavior management, or to subsequently report Huguely's potential risk of violence pursuant to the UVA Policy on Preventing and Addressing Threats or Acts of Violence." The suit also implies that Huguely received preferential treatment for being a star athlete when it points out that in May 2009, another varsity lacrosse player "who sparingly played" was arrested for a DUI and was suspended from the team. Huguely was not suspended for his multiple similar offenses. "UVA and its employees, officers, and agents had a duty to protect and keep its students safe," the suit states saying that the school and its officials acted with "reckless disregard" and "reckless indifference" in handling the matter. Since the coaches had "special relationships" with Huguely, it was their duty to protect UVA students from risk of harm by Huguely, including Love, the suit states. The suit lists three run-ins with the law Huguely was involved in before attacking Love. In 2007, he was charged and convicted of possession of alcohol by a minor. In 2008, he was charged and later convicted of public intoxication and resisting arrest in an incident where he became violent with a female police officer. And in 2009, an intoxicated Huguely "viciously attacked a fellow varsity lacrosse team member" when he found the teammate had been seen with Love, who was his girlfriend at the time. The suit also describes an incident in which Huguely allegedly attacked another female UVA student, "whom Huguely accused of telling her father, Huguely's former high school lacrosse coach, about his chronic intoxication and rage, and a physical attack on a UVA varsity tennis player who was walking with Love on a street on or near UVA's campus." "The University does not comment on legal proceedings," Carol Wood, associate vice president and UVA spokeswoman, told ABCNews.com in an email. The state vows it will "vigorously defend" the case. "We are aware that suit has been filed, but, to date, the plaintiff has not sought to have it served on the commonwealth defendants," Brian J. Gottstein, director of communication for the Office of the Attorney General of Virginia, told ABCNews.com in an email. Over 10 days in court, jurors listened to testimony from nearly 60 witnesses and saw a video of Huguely's police statement, graphic photos of Love's battered body, and read text and email correspondence between the two. Neither the prosecution nor the defense denied that Huguely was in Love's room the night of her death and was involved in an altercation with her. They differed on the severity of the encounter and whether Huguely was directly and intentionally responsible for Love's death. Huguely's attorneys Fran Lawrence and Rhonda Quagliana did not immediately respond to requests for comment from ABCNews.com regarding the lawsuit. The defense team has expressed their desire for a retrial in court. In February, the jury recommended 25 years in prison for the second-degree murder conviction and one year for a grand larceny conviction. The judge can either confirm or lessen the sentence, but he cannot increase it. Huguely's sentencing date has been set for Aug. 30. Click Here to Contact Us TodayFamily sues in death case, police seeks car stolen in attack
The daughter of a 62-year-old man who died after he was assaulted during a home invasion on Easter Sunday filed a wrongful death lawsuit Thursday against the landlord of the senior citizens building in Old Town where her father lived. The lawsuit, filed in in Cook County Circuit Court, alleges that the Urban Property Advisors LLC failed to provide adequate security for Evergreen Tower II apartments at 1343 N. Cleveland Ave., where the attack occurred. Click Here to Contact Us TodayFirefighter wrongful death trial begins
A wrongful death lawsuit that centers around the deaths of 2 east Texas firefighters has gone to trial. In January of 2009, Kyle Perkins and Corey Galloway fell to their deaths during a training exercise in Kilgore. In Gregg county court, taped testimony was given from representatives of 'E-ONE', the makers of the ladder truck which the firefighters fell from, a vehicle that family members says their loved ones were not fully trained on. "You feel comfortable in that bucket and you feel comfortable taking folks up in that bucket without belts on correct?" a plaintiff attorney asked. "Yes sir," said E-ONE representative Fred Cureton. On January 25, 2009 a training exercise at an eight story college dorm in Kilgore went terribly wrong, with firefighters Kyle Perkins and Cory Galloway falling 8 stories to their deaths. Judge Alfonso Charles took the jury outside, where they inspected the actual bucket the firefighters fell from. Part of the suit is focused on the lack of safety harnesses worn or available during the exercise. An E-ONE instructor admitted he had not observed company policy that required passengers in the bucket to wear safety harnesses. The suit seeks unspecified damages and alleged gross negligence. Judge Alfonso Charles says he expects the trial to go well into next week. Click Here to Contact Us TodayDOC wants wrongful death suit scaled to federal court
The state Department of Corrections wants a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the widow a slain corrections officer moved to federal court. Lynette Johnson, widow of Ronald “R.J.” Johnson, filed suit against the DOC and several current and former employees of the penitentiary last week, claiming their actions put her husband’s life in immediate danger. The DOC’s lawyer in the case, James Moore of Woods Fuller law firm in Sioux Falls, said each claim in Lynette Johnson’s lawsuit ought to be argued in federal court. The first count against the DOC alleges that Ron Johnson’s constitutional due process rights were violated when the state put him in a dangerous situation with knowledge that his life would be in danger. “It’s the DOC’s position that the federal court has jurisdiction in the matter,” Moore said. A move to federal court would not significantly alter the process by which the lawsuit’s claims would be vetted or lengthen the proceedings, Moore said. The lawsuit claims specifically the prison employers endangered Johnson and other employees by giving maximum-security inmates with histories of escape and violence to work in-house jobs with freedom of movement throughout the facility. Inmates Rodney Berget and Eric Robert, working as laundry orderlies, beat Officer Johnson to death with a metal pipe and wrapped his head in plastic before hiding the body and using his uniform in an escape attempt on April 12, 2011. Johnson was the only officer patrolling the Pheasantland Industries building on the day of the murder. Both inmates had extensive histories of violence but were moved to high-medium security cells and given jobs because they were “having trouble adjusting” to life in the maximum security conditions at Jameson Annex, the lawsuit claims. “The transfer of Berget and Robert to the West Hall put RJ at a significant risk of serious, immediate, and proximate harm. This risk was compounded by the Department of Corrections' lack of direct correctional staff supervision over Berget and Robert and contemporaneous decision to allow Berget and Robert to have jobs which afforded them access to the Prison Industries building, which contained various tools and other items that could be used to assault, injure or kill Correctional Officers,” the lawsuit says. Berget and Robert both pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, then asked for and received death sentences. A third inmate, a former Pheasantland employee named Michael Nordman, was sentenced to an additional life sentence and was ordered to be held in segregation for providing Berget and Robert with the murder weapon and plastic wrap. The penitentiary made nearly two dozen security changes as a result of the case. Improvements in lighting, additional officers for the Pheasantland building and restrictions on inmate access to certain areas of the prison grounds were among the changes.Fatal 2010 Philly duck boat crash in new video – Fox News
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Wrongful Death Suit Filed in Huguely Case – JD Supra (press release)
 ABC News | Wrongful Death Suit Filed in Huguely Case JD Supra (press release) by Niles, Barton & Wilmer, LLP on 4/30/2012 The mother of slain University of Virginia student Yeardley Love has filed a Wrongful Death lawsuit against her murderer, George Huguely, in the Circuit Court for Charlottesville, VA, according to multiple ... Yeardley Love's Mom Sues Killer George Huguely for $30M Yeardley Love's family seeks millions from George Huguely Sharon Love Files $30M Suit Against George Huguely |
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Family Seeks $420 Million in New Lawsuit Over 2009 TASER Death of Harford … – The Dagger
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Sharon Love Files Wrongful Death Lawsuit – WINA AM 1070
 WINA AM 1070 | Sharon Love Files Wrongful Death Lawsuit WINA AM 1070 The mother and sister of the late Yeardley Love have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against George Huguely. An Albemarle County judge has declared a mistrial in the Wayne Clark case. Lois Lee McDaniel faces prison time after pleading guilty to selling ... |
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