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Warren resolved lawsuits over six teens’ deaths for $50,000
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
The worst crash in Trumbull County history, which killed six teens March 10, 2013, happened when a sport utility vehicle hit a guardrail, flipped over and landed in a pond on its roof.
All six teens – driver Alexis Cayson, 19; Andrique Bennett, 14; Kirklan Behner, 15; Daylan Ray, 15; Brandon Murray, 14; and Ramone White, 15 – drowned. Brian Henry II, then 18, and Asher Lewis, then 15, escaped by breaking out a window.
Documents filed by the attorney representing the families of the five boys who died said the guardrail was about 9 inches lower than regulations required at the time of the accident.
Because it was so low and in some places rotted, the guardrail along Niles Warren River Road near the former RG Steel mill vaulted the vehicle into the pond instead of deflecting it back into the road, said Atty. James Falvey, who represents the families. Cayson’s family was never part of the litigation.
The lawsuits filed separately by the families and later consolidated into one suit alleged there was negligence on the part of Warren and Trumbull County for not keeping the guardrail and road in better condition.
When the legal action was resolved with the city last June, Warren had accepted that the guardrail and some of the roadway was its responsibility, maintenance-wise, but it wasn’t accepting responsibility for the accident.
Greg Hicks, Warren law director, said the city was able to settle the suit for $50,000 – $10,000 per family. After deducting legal fees, each family received $5,060.
A big reason the number wasn’t higher is because the guardrail was built according to code. And though newer specifications required guardrails to be higher to better deflect sport utility vehicles back onto the road, the city wasn’t legally obligated to upgrade, Hicks said.
“You are not required to replace all those guardrails unless you are doing some type of reconstruction or general replacement,” Hicks said. “The rules are somewhat grandfathered until you change anything. Once you change anything or work on it, then you have to come up to the new standards. But there’s no legal obligation to go back and re-do it just because they changed the standards.”
The guardrails were replaced not long after the accident, though Hicks said the work had been scheduled before the crash.
Hicks said the legal arguments made by the families that the city’s portion of the road was in poor condition and contributed to the accident were knocked down by evidence that the road was in good condition and that Cayson’s driving was to blame.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol, which investigated the crash, estimated Cayson was driving 62 to 70 miles per hour on the 35-mph road, according to Vindicator files.
Falvey said he could not comment on the settlement because the families still have pending litigation against Trumbull County. Falvey and the families have appealed a Jan. 2 decision by Judge Ronald Rice of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court granting summary judgment in favor of the county and ruling the guardrail is the city’s responsibility, not the county’s.
In addition to the $50,000 the city paid the families, the city had legal and other expenses of about $55,000, including the city hiring a crash reconstructionist. Under its insurance policy, the city was required to pay the first $100,000 of the $105,000.