Angie Stone’s Family Pursues Legal Action Over Deadly Georgia Highway Collision
The children of Angie Stone have filed a lawsuit against the drivers of a trucking company and the truck manufacturer, alleging they are responsible for their mother’s death in a car crash that occurred in March.
According to WSBTV, Diamond Stone and Michael D’Angelo Archer filed the lawsuit on Tuesday (September 2) in a Georgia state court in the Atlanta suburb of Lawrenceville.
The lawsuit claims the defendant, Jared S. Wilkerson, was “driving fast” on the I-65 North to “deliver a load of sugar to Forest Park, Georgia.” Wilkerson was “listening to music while driving with a pair of headphones,” the suit also states.
The lawsuit claims the deadly chain of events began when the driver of Angie Stone’s Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van “lost control of the vehicle and when he tried to steer it back onto the highway, it flipped over,” leaving Stone, her bandmates, and entourage trapped inside.
“All nine occupants of the Sprinter van, including Angie Stone and Sheila Hopkins, were alive and conscious following the Sprinter van wreck, and began trying to exit the disabled van,” the complaint states.
Several northbound motorists were able to avoid the overturned van because “they were paying proper attention to the roadway in front of them and not driving too fast for the conditions,” according to the filing. Others pulled onto the shoulder, turned on their flashers, and helped. “With the help of the Good Samaritans, five of the nine occupants were able to exit the Sprinter van.”
The lawsuit alleges the weather was clear and “did not contribute to causing the subject collision.” Instead, it claims truck driver Wilkinson “was not paying proper attention to the roadway ahead of him” and “slammed the front of the CRST tractor-trailer into the disabled Sprinter van at highway speeds, without ever applying the brakes.”
The complaint adds: “The brakes on the CRST tractor-trailer were never applied by Wilkinson or the Detroit Assurance 5.0 collision mitigation system, and the tractor-trailer was going nearly seventy miles per hour upon impact with the Sprinter van.”
That collision was “extremely severe,” ejecting Stone and pinning her beneath the van.
“Angie Stone remained trapped underneath the van, where she consciously suffered until she succumbed to the fatal injuries she sustained as a result of the Sprinter van being struck by the CRST tractor-trailer.” Hopkins, who was still inside, survived but suffered injuries.
