New Defendant Added In Wrongful Death Lawsuit
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The wrongful death lawsuit was filed after a portion of County Road 224 washed out in 2021.
WATER VALLEY – A wrongful death lawsuit filed in Yalobusha County Circuit Court on May 19, 2022, seeking damages in the death of Lucy Beard continues to work through the court system. The suit was filed by William Beard and current defendants include Yalobusha County and Valley Timber Co. Inc.
According to the complaint, Lucy Beard and William Beard were traveling on County Road 224 on June 8, 2021, when the road collapsed and the couple’s vehicle crashed down into a creek after the culvert washed out. Lucy Beard died six days later in a Tupelo hospital. The incident occurred after an estimated six inches of rain fell, flooding roads, bridges and homes in some areas of the county.
Defendants initially included District Three supervisor Kenny Harmon, Harmon’s construction company, the Yalobusha County Board of Supervisors and Yalobusha County. Harmon and his company were dismissed from the lawsuit in October, 2022. The Yalobusha County Board of Supervisors was also dismissed as a defendant in December, 2022, leaving Yalobusha County as the sole defendant at that time. The defendants were released after Williams Beard’s attorney, Jason Campbell, filed a motion for them to be removed from the lawsuit.
The complaint states the defendant, Yalobusha County, is responsible for exercising reasonable, ordinary care of the roadways, bridges and/or easements. The complaint also stated that the defendant is responsible for providing warning for unsafe conditions or existing hazards on roadways, bridges and/or easements.
The complaint was amended in a filing in July, 2023, adding Valley Timber Co. Inc. as a new defendant. The amended complaint also alleges that Valley Timber, whose registered agent for service of process is Travis Sharp, operated logging trucks over the roadway on occasions prior to the culvert and roadway collapsing. The allegations include “excessive weighted logging trucks on the roadway and bridges.”
A trial date has not been set, and an amended scheduling order filed by Circuit Judge Smith Murphey in November stated that expert witnesses for the plaintiff shall be designated on or before Jan. 15 and the defendant’s expert witnesses shall be designated on or before Feb. 15. The order also states all discovery in the case shall be completed by April 15.
