An Albuquerque Federal Court jury has awarded $7.8 million to the family of Gerard Watson who was killed by the driver of a CRST tractor-trailer.
Gerard Watson, 28, of Atlanta, GA was killed leaving his mother as his sole heir. The wrongful death lawsuit was filed by his mother, Tanya Mahone. The lawsuit sought personal injuries and wrongful death against CRST and its driver.
The fatal crash happened on Interstate 40 near Grants, New Mexico. Jacque Fletcher, Gerard Watson's co-driver, permitted her father to drive the tractor-trailer resulting in a single vehicle crash. Gerard Watson was in the sleeper compartment of the CRST tractor. The sleeper compartment was completely demolished, and Gerard Watson was killed.
Jacque Fletcher knew that her father did not have a commercial driver's license (CDL) and was on prohibited prescription medications at the time of the crash.
At the scene both Jacque Fletcher and her father lied about who was driving the tractor-trailer.
Tanya Mahone claimed that they were negligent in the operation of the semi truck.
"We asked the jury to send a strong message to trucking companies and their owner operators that they must follow state and federal safety rules when operating their tractors and trailers on New Mexico highways," said Mahone's attorney Mark Caruso.
"Tanya Mahone continues to struggle with the death of her only child," said attorney Caruso.
The 3 day Albuquerque jury trial was held before US District Judge Paul Kelly, a 10th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge who was brought down to try the case. T
Tanya Mahone was represented by Albuquerque trial attorney Mark Caruso, who has been on the cutting edge of major trucking collision jury verdicts over the last several years. He was the trial attorney in the 2018 $5.4 million jury verdict against FedEx in U.S. District Court. He was also involved in last year's Santa Fe lawsuit that resulted in a $16.5 million jury verdict against FedEx. In that case, the FedEx tractor-trailer rear-ended a passenger vehicle.
Mark Caruso can be contacted at 505-883-5000. Additional information can be found at www.carusolaw.com or by contacting Mark Caruso directly at mark@carusolaw.com
