On July 20, 2013, at approximately 1:00 a.m., Carlos Ashley and his soon to be bride, Adrianna Barron, were returning to their home in Henry County, Georgia from a premarital counseling session in Atlanta, Georgia when traveling on Interstate 75/85. On that same fateful night, Jeremy Crawley was also driving on Interstate 75/85, although he was drunk, when he hit the retaining wall and went across five (5) lanes of traffic before coming to a stop that was perpendicular to the highway. Three (3) of the four (4) cars that were behind Crawley were able to stop.
The fourth (4th) car (car # 4), however, was not able to stop. Car # 4 hit the last car in line (car #3), the car that carried Carlos Ashley and Adrianna Barron; Carlos was driving and Adrianna was his passenger. Then the car that carried Mr. Ashley and Ms. Barron (car # 3) hit the car in front of them (car # 2). Subsequently, car # 2 hit the first car that was able to stop (car # 1). The drivers of car # 1 and car # 2 were not severely injured in the crash.
Carlos Ashley and Adrianna Barron would not be so fortunate in car # 3. Car # 3 was hit by car # 4 and it also hit car # 2. Carlos Ashley suffered a serious injury in the crash and was taken to the hospital.
Adrianna Barron, only 23 years old at the time, would suffer an occipital dislocation at the base of her skull. The injury would be described by experts as an internal beheading of which Ms. Barron was most likely aware, that resulted in her tragic and untimely death at the scene of the accident. Adrianna would leave behind a young child, her son, whom she shared with Mr. Ashley.
It is truly a senseless and tragic event when a mother and child lose one and other in such a manner. Ms. Barron’s young son will never know his mother, and his mother lost all those moments in life from her wedding day, to seeing her son off to his first day of school, and to being there with her family for all those moments in life in which we all treasure.
Crawley and the driver of car # 4, Hollis Floyd, were both charged with Driving Under the Influence (DUI) and first-degree homicide, among other traffic violations.
Since the case could have been complicated due to causation issues with both Crawley and Floyd, the Plaintiffs in this case, Carlos Ashley and Adrianna’s Estate, that consisted in part of her two (2) year old son, decided to settle out of court before trial for a total of $ 4,325,000.00. The insurance policies of Crawley, Floyd, Floyd’s parents, and Mr. Ashley and Ms. Barron would pay for the Wrongful Death of the young Adrianna Barron as follows:
1.) $ 75,000 from Crawley’s insurance;
2.) $ 50,000 from the Ashley/Barron policy;
3.) $ 200,000 from Floyd’s insurance policy; and
4.) The bulk of the payment, $ 4 Million, from Floyd’s parents’ umbrella policy.
There were a number of legal issues in this case. First, there was the issue of causation where the two (2) defendants, Crawley and Floyd, could potentially point the finger at each other. Second, there were insurance issues that involved stacking of many insurance policies to get to an amount that was worthy of settlement of such a case. Arguably, if Floyd’s parents umbrella policy would not have been stacked with the other insurance policies, then it is questionable if the policy limits of the other three (3) insurance policies would have amounted to enough money to settle this case without a trial at $ 325,000.00. Third, there were allegedly two (2) drunk drivers involved in the crash; Floyd and Crawley. Finally, the attorney who was originally retained by the Plaintiffs had potential conflicts of interest so other avenues of legal representation had to be pursued to finally settle the case.
At Julie A. Rice, Attorney at Law, & Affiliates our Personal Injury Lawyers are experts at representing clients, and their loved ones, who have been Catastrophically Injured or who have suffered a Wrongful Death in Traffic Accidents that involve Drunk Drivers. We understand the senseless nature of such tragic outcomes, the causation issues in cases that can be very difficult to navigate, the insurance laws as they pertain to multiple insurance policies to insure that no stone is left unturned in regards to insurance companies who are potentially liable, and any other issues that may surface in such complicated cases.
We are here to assist you and we offer a Free Legal Consultation. You may contact us by any or all of the following means: By phone at (770) 865-8654 or (813) 363-6664; by the Contact Form on our website; by email atjuliericelaw@outlook.com; and/or by the contact form on this blog. We look forward to speaking with you and assisting you in the complexities of your case.
Since the case could have been complicated due to causation issues with both Crawley and Floyd, the Plaintiffs in this case, Carlos Ashley and Adrianna’s Estate, that consisted in part of her two (2) year old son, decided to settle out of court before trial for a total of $ 4,325,000.00. The insurance policies of Crawley, Floyd, Floyd’s parents, and Mr. Ashley and Ms. Barron would pay for the Wrongful Death of the young Adrianna Barron as follows:
1.) $ 75,000 from Crawley’s insurance;
2.) $ 50,000 from the Ashley/Barron policy;
3.) $ 200,000 from Floyd’s insurance policy; and
4.) The bulk of the payment, $ 4 Million, from Floyd’s parents’ umbrella policy.
There were a number of legal issues in this case. First, there was the issue of causation where the two (2) defendants, Crawley and Floyd, could potentially point the finger at each other. Second, there were insurance issues that involved stacking of many insurance policies to get to an amount that was worthy of settlement of such a case. Arguably, if Floyd’s parents umbrella policy would not have been stacked with the other insurance policies, then it is questionable if the policy limits of the other three (3) insurance policies would have amounted to enough money to settle this case without a trial at $ 325,000.00. Third, there were allegedly two (2) drunk drivers involved in the crash; Floyd and Crawley. Finally, the attorney who was originally retained by the Plaintiffs had potential conflicts of interest so other avenues of legal representation had to be pursued to finally settle the case.
At Julie A. Rice, Attorney at Law, & Affiliates our Personal Injury Lawyers are experts at representing clients, and their loved ones, who have been Catastrophically Injured or who have suffered a Wrongful Death in Traffic Accidents that involve Drunk Drivers. We understand the senseless nature of such tragic outcomes, the causation issues in cases that can be very difficult to navigate, the insurance laws as they pertain to multiple insurance policies to insure that no stone is left unturned in regards to insurance companies who are potentially liable, and any other issues that may surface in such complicated cases.
We are here to assist you and we offer a Free Legal Consultation. You may contact us by any or all of the following means: By phone at (770) 865-8654 or (813) 363-6664; by the Contact Form on our website; by email atjuliericelaw@outlook.com; and/or by the contact form on this blog. We look forward to speaking with you and assisting you in the complexities of your case.