Jury awards $2M in fatal head-on collision

On Aug. 9, a Wilson County jury awarded $2 million to the estate of a 70-year-old man killed last year when another vehicle crossed the centerline and crashed head-on into the small truck in which he was a passenger.

Johnny Baines died instantly or almost instantly, the medical examiner said, from an open skull fracture suffered in the collision.

The driver of the other vehicle also died. Baines’ estate filed suit only against the driver’s employer, D&D Mechanical Services, and not the driver’s estate. The driver was operating the defendant’s pickup truck in the course and scope of his employment, and the defendant admitted negligence, according to an attorney for Baines, Earl Taylor of Wilson.

Taylor said that the sole beneficiary of Baines’ estate is his 14-year-old daughter, who has been in his custody since she was 3, and that he had lived on Social Security benefits for the past decade.

“At the time of his death, Mr. Baines had $2.52 in his bank account,” Taylor said.

The plaintiff conceded that there were no medical expenses; little, if any, suffering; no loss of net income; and minimal funeral expenses. So, the claims focused rather on statutes allowing damages for the daughter’s loss of, among other things, the companionship, comfort, guidance, protection, and care of her father.

Taylor added that the defendant was insured by the Cincinnati Insurance Company, which has signed to pay out the award.

Follow Heath Hamacher on Twitter @NCLWHamacher

SETTLEMENT REPORT – WRONGFUL DEATH

Amount: $2 million

Case name: Elbert Randolph Baines, Administrator of the Estate of Johnny Junior Baines v. D&D Mechanical Services, LLC:

Case No.: 2016 CVS 1605

Court: Wilson County Superior Court

Judge: Milton Fitch Jr.

Date of settlement: Aug. 9

Attorney for plaintiff: Earl Taylor of Wilson

Attorneys for defendant: Randall Adams of Poyner Spruill in Rocky Mount