According to WYFF Channel 4 News, a Gaffney, South Carolina, family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit in response to a drowning car accident that took place in October of 2008.
In Cherokee County, SC, 77-year-old Tecora Young left a birthday party and then disappeared. No one could locate the woman after three weeks of absence – but in mid-December a Sky 4 News helicopter spotted the elderly woman’s car in the Broad River.
After finding the woman’s body in the car, investigators pieced together what probably took place the night of her death: the woman became lost on her way home from the party, took a wrong turn, and drive into the lake.
Now her family is seeking damages for a death that they believe was preventable. They are suing the Gaffney Board of Public Works, the Department of Natural Resources, and Duke Energy. They expect either a jury trial or an out-of-court settlement regarding the wrongful death, though none of the three defendants have spoken publicly about the issue.
According to their wrongful death attorney, the woman’s death was preventable and should have never happened. A warning sign, lighting, a guard rail, or other barricade would have kept Young alive and posed a danger to everyone that took the road. The road, which was described as dark and winding by the Cherokee County coroner, was built by Duke Energy.
There had been a similar fatal accident on the same road six months prior to Young’s death.