Articles Posted in Wrongful Death

The family of David “DJ” James is suing Trevor Dooley for Florida wrongful death. Dooley is accused of shooting James in front of his 8-year-old daughter Danielle on a neighborhood basketball court. The lawsuit was filed after mediation efforts to resolve the case failed.

According to the Florida wrongful death complaint, Dooley shot James on September 26, 2010 after the two men got into an argument over a skateboarder who was on the court. Police say that Dooley, 69, did not agree with James giving the 14-year-old skater permission to be there, and he came out of his house with firearm in hand. Investigators say that James went toward Dooley to keep the gun away from the kids and that was when it went off. James’ family is seeking unspecified damages.

Unfortunately, altercations can occur between people resulting in serious injuries or death. Even if no one intended for the disagreement to escalate, if someone got hurt as a result, then the person that inflicted the harm-whether accidentally or not-could end up behind bars for committing the crime. Also, depending on the circumstances surrounding the incident, he/she could be sued for Florida wrongful death.

Three years after University of Central Florida football player Ereck Plancher died after an off-season practice session that set off his sickle cell trait, a judge has given his family permission to seek punitive damages against the university. Plancher’s family is suing UCF for Florida wrongful death.

The Planchers claim that UCF was negligent because school trainers and coaches allegedly ignored Plancher’s symptoms of exhaustion, dizziness, and breathing problems even though they knew that the 19-year-old had sickle cell trait and his physical condition was supposed to be monitored. Yet, according to some of Plancher’s teammates, the football staff failed to come to the wide receiver’s aid soon enough. The Orlando Sentinel even reported that in the months before Plancher’s death, he collapsed twice after workouts.

The university maintains that the footballs staff did everything to save Plancher and that punitive damages are not appropriate in this case. Judge Robert Evans, however, believes that there is reasonable basis under the law to let the plaintiffs seek punitive damages.

Two months after Lataurus Randall was fatally shot during an attempted robbery on the golf course of the Deerfield Country Club, The New York Times reports that his family is preparing a Broward County, Florida wrongful death case. Randall, 35, was playing golf with his cousin Melvin Philpart on January 14 when two masked men approached them and demanded their money. That was when Randall was shot.

The country club, which is a 50-year-old course, is bordered on one side by a neighborhood that police say has experienced a series of burglaries where drug deals often occurs. The robbers were able to disappear into that area through a hole in the fence at the 17th fairway where the shooting happened.

While some have speculated that Randall, a landscaping company owner, was specifically targeted during the attempted robbery, others believe that he just happened to be at the wrong place at a bad time. Also, Philpart, who was not injured during the incident, claims that Deerfield Beach Fire-Rescue paramedics and the Broward County Sheriff’s Office took 20 minutes to arrive at the scene after he called 911. By that time, Philpart had already loaded Randall onto the golf cart and taken him to the parking lot.

The family of Rev. Owen O. Human is suing Space Coast Area Transit for Florida wrongful death. The 75-year-old died after he was allegedly left unattended on a bus.

Human, who required the use of a wheelchair, took the Space Coast Area Transit to the Titusville Dialysis and Kidney Center on September 11, 2008. After undergoing dialysis treatment, the bus driver helped him get on the bus. She then allegedly went back into the building. The Florida wrongful death lawsuit contends that when she returned, Human was face down on the floor, bleeding, and unresponsive. He died three days later.

Human’s family contends that because he was left unattended on the bus for at least 20 minutes, he was injured in a Florida fall accident, hit his head, lost a great deal of blood, stopped breathing, and died. Their Florida injury lawyer contends that dialysis treatment can make someone weak and that Human therefore shouldn’t have been left alone. The plaintiffs are also seeking wrongful death damages from the Brevard County Commission.