A New York mother was killed and her 9-year-old daughter was injured following a car accident on July 17. The accident occurred around 5 p.m.
According to police, a 58-year-old man was driving a BMW X5 westbound on 115th Avenue in South Ozone Park when he ran a stop sign and hit a Toyota Corolla traveling northbound. A 40-year-old woman was ejected from the Corolla and died at the scene. The man hit three more cars and then left the scene. The woman’s daughter was hospitalized in critical condition.
The man was later found and taken into custody. He faces charges of aggravated unlicensed operation, assault, criminally negligent homicide, manslaughter, leaving the scene of an accident causing injury and leaving the scene of an accident causing death.
In a case where a driver’s negligence results in the death of another, the family of the woman killed might want to file a wrongful death suit against the driver responsible. A wrongful death suit could be successful even if there are no criminal charges or if charges are brought but no conviction is obtained. This is because in a civil case, the burden of proof required of a plaintiff is a preponderance of evidence rather than the heavier standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt which is required of the prosecution in a criminal case. Compensation from a civil suit may help support a family after the loss of a breadwinner and cover other expenses they have been forced to incur. While no sum of money can make up for the loss of a loved one, compensation might help ease some of the financial stress a family may experience.
Source: PIX 11, Arrest made in Queens crash that killed mother
