KDOT won’t sue parents of kids killed in I-435 rear-end truck wreck after news report
The Kansas Department of Transportation has reversed its decision to sue the parents of two girls killed in a 2018 truck wreck a day after The Star broke the story.
On Tuesday, the state filed suit against the sisters’ parents and other parties involved in the accident seeking to recover $116,832 for repairs to a highway barrier damaged during the crash.
The suit was filed two years after the fatal semitrailer wreck on Interstate 435 that left the girls dead and three family members seriously injured.
While the lawsuit will continue to seek damages from other defendants, KDOT said the parents of 7-year-old Ruth Solome Vazquez-Hernandez and her 1-year-old sister, Teresa de Jesus Vazquez-Hernandez, would no longer be part of the litigation.
“KDOT legal action to recover highway damages after accidents is routine, but in this case KDOT will not be seeking damages from the family and will remove them from the case,” the department said.
The reversal came a day after The Star posted a story on its website Wednesday afternoon about the lawsuit. Other news outlets followed up.
The suit, filed Tuesday, came on the two-year anniversary of the wreck and as the girls’ parents are in the midst of finalizing a settlement of their wrongful death claim against the truck driver and owners of the tractor-trailer rig.
On Feb. 18, 2018, a truck driven by William Spring of Corning, Iowa slammed into a minivan driven by the mother of the two girls, Angelica Hernandez-Valentin. Hernandez-Valentin and her two sons, ages 9 and 14, were ejected by the force of the collision, according to court records, and suffered serious injuries.
A GoFundMe page set up for the family at the time of the wreck, said the younger boy lost his leg. Spring suffered less serious injuries and was treated and released from a hospital the next day, authorities said.
According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, the crash occurred when the 2002 Honda minivan slowed or stopped for an unknown reason in the westbound lanes of I-435 near State Line Road in Leawood.
Spring rear-ended the minivan and then crashed through the concrete barrier along the shoulder.
Hernandez-Valentin and the father of their children, Salomon Vazquez, reached a settlement earlier this month with Spring and the owners of the truck and trailer: Brown Truck Leasing Corp. and Greenfield Logistics Inc.
Terms were not disclosed. A hearing to finalize the agreement is set for March 12 in Jackson County Circuit Court.Independence.
KDOT’s suit in Johnson County District Court naming as defendants Spring, Brown Truck Leasing, Greenfield Logistics and the parents of the four children.
In the suit, the transportation department faulted Hernandez-Valentin for allegedly not having a valid driver’s license at the time of the wreck. It also claims she was negligent for failing to use reasonable care by moving off the roadway when her minivan failed to go at “a reasonable speed.”
Spring was negligent, KDOT alleges, for “driving too fast for conditions on the roadway” and following too closely.
This story was originally published February 20, 2020 at 8:41 PM.
