Friday's Internet Edition, November 21, 2008.
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Progress News Writer
- RUSK — The woman whose daughter died during the course of a high-speed chase filed suit against the DPS last week.
Misty Morales of Flint filed a wrongful death lawsuit Friday against troopers Randy Loftin and Barry Evans as well as the Department of Public Safety and the State of Texas for the death of her 5-year-old daughter, Donna.
Donna was killed after the DPS vehicle driven by Loftin and Evans struck the Morales’ truck while in high-speed pursuit of Junior Jameson through the Shadybrook community. The officers had tried to stop Jameson on a traffic violation.
Jameson was later arrested and is still in the Smith County jail, awaiting his Oct. 1 trial.
The lawsuit was filed with the district clerk in Rusk and lists 11 alleged violations of standards in the DPS pursuit. Morales’ lawyer, Bill Clark of Tyler, had the papers served Monday.
One officer is still out because of injuries sustained in the accident and neither trooper will be reprimanded for the lawsuit, DPS officials said.
“We all know and understand that in this line of work, things like this may happen. We try not to dwell on it, but we know it does happen,” said Tyler DPS official Mike Wilson.
The case is still pending the grand jury in Cherokee County.