Illinois
Second lawsuit filed in death of mother during parasailing trip
CHICAGO (AP) — The family of an Illinois woman killed in a 2022 crash while she and two children were parasailing in the Florida Keys filed a second lawsuit connected to her death this week and reflected on the tragic end to a family vacation about a year ago.
Supraja Alaparthi, 33, was killed after being dragged across the water and slamming into a bridge last June while strapped into a parasail. Her husband, Srinivasrao Alaparthi, told reporters Thursday that his family has taken the last year “one day at a time” but misses her dearly.
“I can’t help but think that if the people we trusted ... had done their jobs, my wife would still be with us today,” he said. “We trusted these companies, but they let us down in the worst possible way.”
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission investigated the crash last year and found the boat captain cut the line holding Alaparthi and the two boys because the parasail was “dragging” in high winds from a sudden summer storm.
Her husband, daughter and other horrified family members watched from the boat as they were dragged across the water and struck a bridge, attorneys said Thursday at a news conference in Chicago. It came days after filing a wrongful death lawsuit against the captain, a crew member and a Florida resort company that owns the marina where the boat was based.
“I’m a life-long Florida resident and our state can do better for people that come from out of state to enjoy our waters, our boats, our sun,” attorney Pedro Echarte said, calling for more required training and closer transparency and enforcement around existing standards.
Online court records did not list attorneys representing the captain, crew members and resort company named in the suit.
The two boys on the parasail with Alaparthi were both hurt; the lawsuits did not specify their injuries but described them as “severe and permanent.” Srinivasrao Alaparthi told reporters that his son and nephew are doing better physically but still dealing with “emotional trauma” tied to the crash.
Attorneys for the family last June filed a separate wrongful death and personal injury lawsuit against the boat company. That case is still pending. An attorney representing the company did not immediately return a message seeking comment Thursday.
According to the family’s attorneys, the Alaparthis, their two children and extended family members were visiting the Keys from their home in Elk Grove Village outside Chicago when they booked the parasailing trip. The lawyer said family members told employees they would come back the next day if the weather prevented parasailing but were reassured it would be OK.
The boat captain, Daniel Gavin Couch, was charged by Florida authorities in September with manslaughter in the crash. The Florida public defender’s office representing Couch in the criminal case declined Thursday to comment on that case, which is still pending.
California
Jury returns $63M verdict after finding Chevron covered up toxic pit
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) — A California jury has returned a $63 million verdict against Chevron after finding the oil giant covered up a toxic chemical pit on land purchased by a man who built a house on it and was later diagnosed with a blood cancer.
Kevin Wright, who has multiple myeloma, unknowingly built his home directly over the chemical pit near Santa Barbara in 1985, according to his lawsuit.
Starting in 1974, Chevron subsidiary Union Oil Company of California had operated a sump pit for oil and gas production, a process that left the carcinogenic chemical benzene on the property, court papers said.
Wright bought the land and built the house in 1985. Nearly three decades later, he was diagnosed with the cancer that attacks plasma cells in the blood and can be caused by benzene exposure, court documents said.
The jurors in Santa Barbara on Wednesday returned the $63 million verdict, said Jakob Norman, an attorney for Wright. Norman called the case a “blatant example of environmental pollution and corporate malfeasance.”
Chevron said Union Oil Company would appeal the judgment.
“We strongly disagree with the jury’s decisions to award compensatory and punitive damages,” Chevron said in a statement Thursday.
Wright’s cancer is in remission, his attorneys said, but he regularly undergoes chemotherapy treatments to hold the illness at bay.
“They cut corners, and my life was turned upside down as a result,” Wright said in a statement provided by his attorneys. “Chevron’s continued denial of the harm they caused is a shameful reminder that this company values only profits, not people.”
Missouri
Supreme Court declines to halt August execution of man convicted of killing child
The Missouri Supreme Court has turned aside an appeal by a man scheduled to be executed in August for killing a 6-year-old girl.
Johnny Johnson, 45, was convicted of first-degree murder in the 2002 death of Casey Williamson in suburban St. Louis. He faces execution Aug. 1 unless the courts intervene or Republican Gov. Mike Parson grants clemency.
Johnson’s lawyers said in the appeal that he is incompetent to be executed because his schizophrenia prevents him from understanding the link between his crime and the punishment. The appeal said Johnson has delusions about the devil using his death to bring about the end of the world.
The Missouri Attorney General’s Office challenged the credibility of the psychiatric evaluation and said medical records indicate that Johnson is able to manage his mental illness through medication. The state Supreme Court, in a 6-1 ruling, agreed.
Johnson was staying with friends in Valley Park, Missouri, in July 2002, when Casey went missing. Dozens of volunteers joined police in the search.
The girl’s body was found in a pit less than a mile from her home, buried beneath rocks and debris. Johnson confessed that he used bricks and rocks to beat Casey after she fought back when he tried to sexually assault her.
Missouri has executed three people this year, more than any state except Texas. The most recent was on Tuesday, when Michael Tisius was put to death for killing two jailers during a failed attempt to break another man out of jail.
Missouri
Archdiocese of St. Louis to pay $1 million to settle sex abuse lawsuit
ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Archdiocese of St. Louis will pay $1 million to settle a lawsuit filed by a man who was sexually abused as a child by a priest who previously spent 12 years in prison for abusing another boy, an attorney for the victim said Friday.
The plaintiff was an altar boy at Ascension Catholic Church in Chesterfield, Missouri. The suit alleged he was abused by the Rev. Gary Wolken starting in 1993, when the boy was in fourth grade, and continuing through 1995. The lawsuit said the plaintiff repressed memories until he was an adult. The man’s lawsuit, which did not use his name, was filed in 2018.
His attorney, Rebecca Randles, said the settlement was reached this week.
“We applaud our client who has been very brave in facing down the Archdiocese of St. Louis in a case that was very hard-fought and difficult from an emotional and legal standpoint,” Randles said.
The archdiocese didn’t immediately respond to messages Friday but said in a statement to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that it hopes the settlement provides some comfort for the victim and his family.
“We continue to pray for all victims of sexual abuse, that they may find comfort and healing. Please keep all those who are exploited in your prayers, especially children and vulnerable adults,” the statement read.
Wolken is now 57. He was sentenced to prison in 2003 for sexually abusing another St. Louis-area boy from 1997 to 2000. He was in prison from 2003 to 2015. The archdiocese removed Wolken from ministry in 2002.
In 2004, the archdiocese paid nearly $1.7 million to settle a lawsuit claiming that church leaders could have intervened to prevent the abuse but didn’t.
“Long ago, church staff knew Fr. Gary Wolken was a predator but did almost nothing to stop him and protect kids,” David Clohessy of SNAP, or the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said in a statement.
Indiana
Man pleads guilty to murder, rape of 80-year-old invalid
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A 61-year-old Indianapolis nursing home resident pleaded guilty to murder and rape Thursday in the death of an 80-year-old invalid last year.
Dwayne Freeman faces 45 years in prison as part of a plea agreement when he’s sentenced June 22 for the crimes against Patricia Newnum.
Court documents say an employee at Homestead Healthcare Center entered Newnum’s room to give her medication on the morning of Feb. 2, 2022. She saw Freeman naked and lying on top of Newnum while holding a pillow over her face.
Documents say Freeman admitted to having sex with Newnum, but said it was consensual. It wasn’t clear why Freeman was a resident of the nursing home.
The Marion County Coroner’s Office ruled Newnum died of asphyxiation by smothering.
Newnum’s family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Homestead, which is owned by Adams County Memorial Hospital, a small hospital in northeast Indiana. The hospital contracts with Cincinnati-based CommuniCare to operate the facility.
The lawsuit claims the woman’s death was the “inevitable result” of poor staffing and horrible conditions at the facility.
A spokesperson for Homestead said it does not comment on pending litigation.
Michigan
Woman withdraws no-contest plea in pond crash deaths of 3 young sons
HOLLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A western Michigan woman whose three young sons drowned after her SUV crashed into an ice-covered pond has withdrawn her no-contest plea after a judge rejected a plea deal calling for her to serve one year in jail.
Leticia Gonzales, 31, withdrew her plea Thursday, shortly after conferring with her attorneys, The Grand Rapids Press reported. The case will now be set for trial.
The Holland-area woman was in court Thursday to be sentenced. But Ottawa County Circuit Judge Jon Hulsing said he would not go along with her agreement with prosecutors and would sentence her to four to 15 years in prison.
Gonzales was charged in July 2022 with three counts of operating while intoxicated causing death, but pleaded no contest to a single count in her sons’ February 2022 deaths.
Ottawa County police said Gonzales was driving her sport-utility vehicle when she veered off the left side of a road, jumped a curb and the SUV rolled into an ice-covered retention pond. Her sons, Jerome III, 4, Jeremiah, 3, and Josiah, 1, drowned while strapped into their child-restraint seats.
Gonzales escaped with only minor injuries. Police allege she was impaired by two doses of methadone, a medication used to treat drug addiction and pain relief, that she had taken the morning of the crash.
