In the aftermath of a fiery Interstate 75 crash that killed seven people, one mother filed a lawsuit after she lost her child and another woman collected donations for the victims.
Lawsuit
Chasity Warren lost her 14-year-old son two weeks ago and still doesn’t know why.
On Jan. 3, an I-75 crash killed five children including her son Jeremiah Warren, Joel Cloud, 14; Cierra “Cece” Bordelan, 9; Cara Descant, 13; and Brieana Descant, 10. Two semitruck drivers, Steve Holland and Douglas Bolkema, were also killed. Eight more people were injured.
Holland was driving northbound on I-75 and hit Robyn Rattray’s car. Both vehicles went through the guardrail and hit two vehicles going south: the passenger van the children were in and Bolkema’s semitruck. The van overturned, ejecting some passengers and both semitrucks caught fire.
The cause of the crash is still unknown, said Warren’s attorney Joseph Fried.
On Jan. 10, Warren filed an auto negligence lawsuit in hopes of finding answers. She sued the drivers who started the crash, Holland and Rattray, and the companies of the semitrucks, Eagle Express Lines and New Prime Inc., Fried said. Warren hasn’t yet filed a suit against Bolkema.
Eagle Express Lines declined to comment and New Prime Inc. couldn’t be reached.
“Money, justice doesn’t bring kids back and so families who suffer these types of losses generally want answers,” Fried said.
There’s no set amount of money that Warren is suing for yet, Fried said. It will take a few months for his investigation to be completed.
Donation
Kristy Bickmeyer was heading to bed when she heard about the I-75 crash on Jan. 3.
“I read that it was a van full of kids going to Disney, and that just made it so much worse,” said Bickmeyer, 41.
On Jan. 4, after reading Facebook posts about people wanting to help the victims, Bickmeyer reached out to UF Shands Health Center and was told what patients needed.
Later that day, she posted on Facebook that she was accepting any donations for the victims, Bickmeyer said. She received more than $5,000.
Bickmeyer paid for gas cards, clothes and a pediatric wheelchair for the injured, she said.
On Jan. 10, Bickmeyer donated the leftover money to the Pentecostals of Gainesville to help with funeral costs.
The church bought five burial plots, said Jimmy Toney, pastor of the Pentecostals of Gainesville. The plots cost $10,150.
All the deceased children were buried.
Contact Katherine Wallace-Fernandez at kwallace-fernandez@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @katwf98.
Jimmy Toney, the 45-year-old pastor of The Pentecostals of Gainesville, leads a vigil for the victims of the I-75 accident last Thursday. People filled the church Sunday evening to support the families of the victims and pray for their recovery. “They’ve been stuck in hospitals with doom and gloom and death,” Toney said. “I just think it meant the world.” // Chris Day, The Alligator
