A Los Angeles trucking company is named in a lawsuit brought on behalf of an 8-year-old Tulare boy who survived injuries he suffered in a 2014 triple-fatality crash in Mississippi while he and other family members were on their way back to California.
The Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit was filed Wednesday on behalf of Ricky Hodson III by his mother, Jamie McCauslin. The suit names Lincoln Heights- based trucking firm Golden Drop Inc. and driver Juan Campos. The allegations are wrongful death, negligence and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
The suit seeks unspecified damages. A Golden Drop representative did not immediately reply to an email sent today seeking comment.
The Mississippi Highway Patrol previously reported that the boy’s father, Ricky Hodson Jr., 32; the man’s fiancee, Amber Thompson; and Pasleigh Elaine Hodson, their 20-month-old daughter, were killed when the car they were riding in with Ricky III ran into the back of a tractor-trailer rig being driven by Campos on Interstate 10 about 8:50 p.m. Sept. 24, 2014.
Published reports at the time quoted Tulare police as saying the boy was the subject of a custody dispute and was being brought back home by his father. Plaintiff’s attorney Michael Alder did not return a call for comment.
According to the lawsuit, Hodson crashed into the back of the big rig after Campos suddenly decreased his speed. The suit also alleges the truck lacked rear-impact guards that could have provided better protection for the victims.
The boy sustained “severe bodily injuries” and will experience pain for the foreseeable future, the suit states. He also suffered emotional distress from being present in the car when his father and Pasleigh were killed, according to the lawsuit.
