Family Files Suit in Deaths
Relatives of a Vancleave, Miss., family killed in a four-vehicle crash on Interstate 12 on July 29 have filed a federal wrongful death suit against a Waste Management Inc. driver criminally charged in the crash, three Waste Management corporations and others, court records show.
Filed Aug. 22 in U.S. District Court, Southern District of Mississippi, the suit accuses the defendants of willful, wanton negligence in the deaths of husband and wife Phillip and Shyla Van Alstine, and of a third family member, as well as in the severe injury of a fourth family member.
A copy of the suit available online redacts the other family members' names, but Louisiana State Police and family members have said Haylie Van Alstine, 7, was also killed in the crash. Kaytie Van Alstine, 4, was severely injured. Both were daughters of Phillip and Shyla Van Alstine.
Troopers have said they determined James C. Lane, 40, 7534 Quorum Drive, Baton Rouge, caused a chain-reaction crash on I-12 eastbound when a Waste Management 18-wheeler he was driving ran into the Van Alstines' van. Another 18-wheeler and another van were also involved in the crash.
The driver of the other 18-wheeler, Jeffrey Baker, and his employer, Rebman Truck Lines, Mansfield, Ohio, were also named in the suit. Troopers did not cite Baker in the crash.
Lane was booked last month in East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on three counts of negligent homicide, two counts of negligent injuring and a single count of reckless operation of a vehicle, troopers have said.
Not specifically named in the suit was the fourth driver, Ruth A. Fort, whom state troopers initially were going to arrest in the crash until clearing her. But the suit does name unidentified "John Doe" defendants who "are the owners or operators of any vehicle which caused and/or contributed to the accident."
The suit was filed on behalf of Jerry and Patricia Isaacson, the parents of Shyla Van Alstine, court records show.
They are named as plaintiffs as individuals, as guardians of Kaytie and the Van Alstines' other surviving child, Avery; on behalf of the Van Alstines' surviving death beneficiaries and on behalf of Phillip, Shyla and Haylie individually.
The suit seeks a jury trial and damages for funeral, burial and medical expenses; loss of support and services; pain and suffering; and other damages, including punitive damages.
The suit came to light mid-Wednesday afternoon after the Isaacsons' Biloxi, Miss., attorney, Jim Reeves, issued a statement.
An attorney and a spokesperson for Waste Management did not return early evening messages for comment.
Source: By David J. Mitchell, Advocate Florida parishes bureau
