Trial dates have been set regarding the wrongful death suits of two of five Georgia Southern University students killed April 22, 2015 in a fiery seven-car pile-up on Interstate 16.
Caitlyn Baggett of Millen, Emily Clark of Powder Springs; Abbie DeLoach of Savannah; Morgan Bass of Leesburg and Catherine McKay Pittman of Alpharetta all lost their lives when a tractor trailer rig plowed into them as they sat in their vehicles in a line of traffic halted due to clean-up efforts from a previous wreck.
Families of all five victims filed wrongful death lawsuits in Bryan County in May.
Bob Cheeley, attorney with Butler Wooten & Cheeley & Peak LLP of Atlanta, which represents the families of Baggett, Clark and DeLoach, said a court date has been set for April 18 for DeLoach's case, while Clark's case will be heard May 18. Both cases are slated to be heard in Bryan County state court, he said. No date has yet been set in Baggett's case.
Joseph A. Fried, of Fried, Rogers, Goldberg LLC of Atlanta, who represents the families of Bass and Pittman, said last week no trial dates had yet been set for his clients' cases.
The families of all five young ladies killed in the wreck have filed wrongful death lawsuits against U.S. Xpress Entities, the parent company of Total Transportation of Mississippi and its subsidiaries, as well as Graywolf Logistics Inc. out of Pooler. The driver of the truck that caused the crash, John Wayne Johnson of Shreveport, LA, was driving the semi owned by Total Transportation.
Georgia State Patrol Post 42 Sgt. Chris Neese said the case has been handed over to the Atlantic Judicial Circuit District Attorney Tom Durden's office for review and consideration of charges. Johnson has not been charged by the Georgia State Patrol, he said.
The suits also name as a defendant Robert Tayloe of Dublin, the truck driver charged in the first wreck that was the reason for stalled traffic on the interstate.
No one was injured in the first wreck, which occurred when Tayloe's semi rammed the rear end of a motor home, causing both vehicles to flip and roll.
A few hours later, Johnson's tractor trailer rig slammed into a car stopped in a line of traffic that was halted due to the first accident, causing a chain reaction involving seven vehicles, according to Georgia State Patrol reports.
According to the lawsuits, Johnson's truck was traveling at about 70 miles per hour and did not slow when it crashed into a Toyota Corolla occupied by Clark, Pittman and Baggett. A Ford Escape in front of the Corolla held DeLoach, Bass, Richards and McDaniel. All were GSU nursing students traveling to their last clinical of the year in Savannah when the crash occurred.
Fried confirmed Thursday reports that Johnson had a significant amount of pornography in his truck cab when the crash occurred. "We are unsure whether he was online at the time (of the collision)," he said. "There was a lot of porn in the truck. We don't think he was actively texting at the time (of the wreck) but he had been earlier."
Leigh Anne Battersby, spokesperson for US Xpress, said her company is represented by Mark Barber of Barber & Donelson, attorneys, in Atlanta and Weinberg-Wheeler attorneys in Atlanta. Calls to those law firms seeking comments have not been returned.
In September, East Georgia Regional Medical Center gifted Georgia Southern University with $41,670 for the university's School of Nursing Students' Memorial Fund, established in memory of the five victims.
Fellow students Megan Richards of Loganville and Brittany McDaniel of Reidsville, also passengers in two of the seven vehicles involved, survived.
Herald reporter Holli Deal Saxon may be reached at (912) 489-9414.