Lawsuits Filed on Behalf of Survivor and Surviving Parents of Horrific Tractor Trailer Crash on I-16 in Bryan County, Georgia

    BRYAN COUNTY, GA, May 16, 2015 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Three wrongful death lawsuits were filed on May 12, 2015 in Bryan County Superior Court and State Court on behalf of three sets of surviving parents of the following nursing students at Georgia Southern University: Caitlyn Baggett (age 21 of Millen, Ga), Emily Clark (age 21 of Powder Springs, Ga) and Abbie DeLoach (age 21 of Savannah, Ga). In addition, another lawsuit was filed in the name of Megan Richards (age 20 of Loganville, Ga), one of two young women who survived a horrific tractor trailer crash that left five nursing students dead on April 22, 2015 on I-16 eastbound in Bryan County, Georgia. At approximately 5:50 AM, an 18-wheeler operated by Total Transportation of Mississippi, LLC, and owned by its parent company, US Xpress Enterprises, Inc. of Chattanooga, Tennessee ("Total Transport/US Xpress) John Wayne Johnson, an employee from Louisiana, inexplicably ran into the rear of seven stopped vehicles in the right lane. Defendant Johnson did not brake, made no effort to avoid colliding with the stopped vehicles on the roadway, and collided with the rear of a Toyota Corolla at a speed just under 70 mph. The occupants of the Toyota were three Georgia Southern nursing students-Emily Clark, driver, and Caitlyn Baggett and McKay Pittman, passengers. The 18-wheeler struck the Toyota with such force that the Toyota was slammed into a second vehicle, a Ford Escape, immediately in front of the Toyota, which contained four Georgia Southern nursing students, including Abbie DeLoach (driver), and passengers Brittney McDaniel, Morgan Bass and Megan Richards. All seven nursing students were enroute to the final day of nursing clinical rotations at a Savannah hospital when the crash occurred.

According to the lawsuit, the force of the impact caused by Total Transportation/US Xpress' 18-wheeler then crushed the Ford Escape into the rear of an 18-wheel fuel tanker, forcing the fuel tanker onto the shoulder of the highway and tossing the Ford into the air where it rolled several times, resulting in the ejection of passengers McDaniel and Bass from the Ford SUV. Bass suffered fatal injuries and died at the scene, and McDaniel suffered severe and permanent injuries.

The 18-wheeler was equipped with a Collision Avoidance System, but it is not known if it was operational.

The suit stated that the driver, Abbie DeLoach, was trapped behind the steering wheel for a considerable period of time and was extricated from the vehicle as a result of the timely efforts of fire fighters. Abbie DeLoach was alive for several hours and was loaded onto a life flight helicopter but did not survive her injuries suffered in the horrible collision.

Megan Richards suffered severe physical injuries and permanent emotional and psychological trauma as a result of the violent crash and its aftermath, including witnessing her friends die when an explosion of the fuel tank engulfed the Toyota.

"Richard and Linda Baggett, Craig and Kathy Clark, Kim DeLoach McQuaig and Jimmy DeLoach, filed suit as sole surviving heirs under Georgia's Wrongful Death Statute to recover for the full value of the life of each of their daughters, all of whom aspired to dedicate their lives as nurses to take care of other people," said Bob Cheeley, a partner in the Atlanta/Columbus firm of Butler Wooten Cheeley & Peak, who is lead counsel in the four cases. "It is a senseless and horrible loss of Georgia's best and brightest young women. We intend to thoroughly investigate the hiring practices of Total Transportation and its parent company, US Xpress to understand why Defendant Johnson did not see the long line of traffic with brake lights shining in the darkness just before 6 am. We intend to get to the bottom of why this happened. After grieving the loss of their beautiful daughters, our clients are deeply disturbed over the facts of this wreck and they are demanding justice for the innocent blood which was shed on the roadway that morning," added Cheeley.

"This is every parent's worst nightmare," said Brandon Peak, a partner of Butler Wooten Cheeley & Peak, who is also representing the plaintiffs in these cases. "These young women were on their way to their final clinical rotations at a Savannah hospital and they never had a chance with an out of control 18- wheeler barreling down on them from behind. Witnesses who saw the collision described it as if a bomb exploded when the 18-wheeler struck the young women's vehicles on the roadway."

"This carnage on I-16 is, without a doubt, the worst case I have ever seen in my 43 years of practicing law in coastal Georgia," said co-counsel, Billy N. Jones of Hinesville, Georgia. "Never have I seen such indefensible conduct by someone operating a motor vehicle."

Plaintiffs also named US Xpress, as parent company of Total Transportation of Mississippi, and its respective insurers New Mountain Lake Holdings, LLC and Mountain Lake Risk Retention Group, Inc. In addition, plaintiffs named Greywolf Logistics, Inc. a Georgia- based trucking company, and its driver, Robert Gordon Tayloe of Laurens County, Georgia, alleging that these defendants were negligent in causing the first wreck earlier that morning on I-16, which resulted in the stalled traffic.

Also representing Plaintiff Kim DeLoach McQuaig, individually and as co-administrator of Abbie DeLoach's estate, will be MarkTate and Jim Shipley of Savannah, Georgia.

Richard L. Baggett and Linda K. Baggett, Individually and as surviving parents of Caitlyn Nichole Baggett, Deceased, and Richard L. Baggett, as Administrator of the Estate of Caitlyn Nichole Baggett, Deceased, Plaintiffs vs Total Transport of Mississippi, LLC, US Xpress Enterprises, Inc., US Xpress, Inc, US Xpress Leasing, Inc., New Mountain Lake Holdings, LLC, Mountain Lake Risk Retention Group, Inc., John Wayne Johnson, Greywolf Logistics, Inc., Arch Insurance Company, and Robert Gordon Tayloe, Defendants.

William Craig and Kathy Marie Clark, Individually and as surviving parents of Emily Elizabeth Clark, Deceased, and William Craig Clark as Administrator of the Estate of Emily Elizabeth Clark, Deceased, Plaintiffs vs Total Transport of Mississippi, LLC, US Xpress Enterprises, Inc., US Xpress, Inc, US Xpress Leasing, Inc., New Mountain Lake Holdings, LLC, Mountain Lake Risk Retention Group, Inc., John Wayne Johnson, Greywolf Logistics, Inc., Arch Insurance Company, and Robert Gordon Tayloe, Defendants.

Kim DeLoach McQuaig and James M. DeLoach, Jr., Individually and as surviving parents of Abbie Lorene DeLoach, Deceased, and Kim DeLoach McQuaig and James M. DeLoach, Jr., as Co-Administrators of the Estate of Abbie Lorene DeLoach, Deceased vs Total Transport of Mississippi, LLC, US Xpress Enterprises, Inc., US Xpress, Inc, US Xpress Leasing, Inc., New Mountain Lake Holdings, LLC, Mountain Lake Risk Retention Group, Inc., John Wayne Johnson, Greywolf Logistics, Inc., Arch Insurance Company, and Robert Gordon Tayloe, Defendants. Megan Rebecca Richards, Plaintiff, vs Total Transport of Mississippi, LLC, US Xpress Enterprises, Inc., US Xpress, Inc, US Xpress Leasing, Inc., New Mountain Lake Holdings, LLC, Mountain Lake Risk Retention Group, Inc., John Wayne Johnson, Greywolf Logistics, Inc., Arch Insurance Company, and Robert Gordon Tayloe, Defendants.

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