California Wrongful Death Cases

Past Wrongful Death Cases

For more than 70 years, CaseyGerry has been successfully bringing wrongful death lawsuits against those whose negligence or intent to harm led to the death of another person. Below are a few California wrongful death cases that we have litigated.

Truck Crash
A man blew through a large stop sign and struck the front corner of a semi-truck. Witnesses heard and saw an explosion with dust, electrical lighting and a plume of smoke. The semi-truck flipped and knocked over a power line, sending it through the windshield and killing the driver.

Excessive Force on Inmate
Correctional officers were attempting to restrain an inmate. They placed him in choke holds and headlocks, kneeled on his neck and back, and stomped on him. The excessive force killed the man.

Rear-End Collison
A woman pulled her car over on a highway. She and her passenger were about to exit the vehicle when a woman in another car struck them from behind. The two were ejected from the car and lost consciousness. The driver never woke up and died shortly after arriving at the hospital.

Truck Crash
The driver of a semi-truck pulled out of a private driveway directly into the path of an unsuspecting driver in a small pickup truck. The driver under-rode the trailer and was killed.

Defective Lift Gate Design
The driver of a semi-truck did not notice that the side lift gate had not been stowed under the truck, partially because the gate lacked a warning system. As a result, the gates struck and killed a pedestrian.

Car Crash
The driver of a sports car crossed the yellow lines and struck an SUV head-on. The father and son occupying the SUV were severely injured. Tragically, the father succumbed to his injuries.

Deadly Asphyxiation
While at a Montessori school, a child died when he was asphyxiated by a push pin that had become lodged in his throat.

Crash into Hazardous Tree Line
A 16-year-old girl died when the vehicle in which she was a passenger impacted a large tree located just off the edge of State Rt. 163. The driver was also killed. Despite 25 years of knowledge and notice of the safety hazard of the trees there, the State of California had previously failed to take appropriate action.

Drunk Driving Crash
An intoxicated woman illegally drove a pickup truck into an intersection and struck a vehicle, instantly killing the other driver.

Defective Vehicle Occupant Protection
A car manufacturer negligently designed and manufactured a defective occupant protection system including the seats and seatbelts. As a result, a partial ejection in a rear-end collision led to the death of two people.

Boat Fire
An electrical lamp was under pillows in a boat. Someone activated a generator on the boat, which then caused the pillows to ignite and cause a fire. Two family members died as a result of smoke inhalation.

Unprotected Center Lane
On a highway traveling southbound, one car bumped into another, sending it to cross the unprotected center lane. It collided with a vehicle traveling northbound. Both the driver and passenger died as a result of the crash. The State of California had previously failed to create a barrier that would have protected the vehicle from crossing into traffic.

Bar Assault
A young man was assaulted inside a bar and was then subsequently stabbed outside by his aggressor, after the bar ejected both simultaneously. He died as a result of his injuries.

Inadequate Roadside Protection
A high school senior was traveling home from school when she lost control, traveled across two lanes of traffic, and struck the retained earth mount. The impact sent the car airborne before it struck a tree. The driver died from severe head trauma. The State of California failed to provide adequate protection along the roadway, which might have prevented such a severe collision.

Dog Attack
A pit bull attacked a two-year-old girl at the home of her day care provider. Her injuries from the attack led to her death.

Drunk Driving Collision
An intoxicated man was forced to leave a bar. Although his blood-alcohol concentration was twice that of the legal limit, he drove his vehicle. He was traveling northbound in the southbound lane of State Rt. 163 and hit another vehicle head-on. The collision killed the driver and front seat passenger and severely injured both rear seat passengers.

Improperly Secured Equipment
A man was killed at a construction plant when an unsecured 800- to 1,000-pound feeder box pivoted down. He was crushed between the box and the splash curtain support bracket on the screen. The day prior, maintenance workers had removed four of the six nuts and bolts used to secure the box without advising or giving any warning.

Negligent Care of a Boy with Special Needs
A boy’s developmental defects included not having a gag reflex. Due to his risk for choking injuries, his school was required to provide him with constant and close supervision. He was left alone and later found gasping for air with no pulse. When emergency responders arrived, no one informed them of the child’s condition or the procedures for aiding him. He suffered a hypoxic brain injury and died.

Two-Plane Crash
Air traffic controllers issued mistaken instructions, and two planes crashed as a result. The sole occupant of one plane and the pilots and crew of the other were all killed.

Defective Tires
A single-vehicle crash occurred when it left the roadway and rolled several times due to tire tread separation. CaseyGerry represented the family of a passenger who was killed in the collision.

Head-On Collision
An unlicensed cable installer crossed the center median and drove the wrong way on a highway. He crashed head-on into a car, killing a mother and daughter.

Suicide
A 90-day chemical dependency program and psychiatric nurse practitioner failed to prevent a patient from committing suicide, despite observing a multitude of warning signs.

Crash with Repeat Offender
The father of a repeat drunk driver negligently gave his son access to his vehicle. After multiple DUIs, arrests and a hit-and-run, the son struck and killed the father of four children.

Defective Rental Car
A rental car accelerated uncontrollably on a highway and struck the rear of an SUV. The rental went over a curb, through a fence, hit an embankment, became airborne and hit the dirt of the San Diego River basin. It rolled several times and burst into flames. All four passengers were killed in the collision.

Drugged Driving Crash
A felon previously convicted of drug possession was driving a truck while high on drugs at work. He made a lane change that forced a passing vehicle off the road and into oncoming traffic. The subsequent crashed killed two people. The trucking company was partially responsible for allowing the man behind the wheel of their vehicle.

Salivary Gland Cancer
CaseyGerry represented the family of former San Diego Padre Tony Gwynn in a wrongful death action brought against the tobacco industry. A longtime smokeless Tobacco user, Gwynn died of salivary gland cancer in 2014 at age 54.

Failure to Protect Residents’ Safety
A man who was unable to care for himself lived in a center for the chronically mentally ill. He died when the air conditioning unit in the residents’ wing failed and was out of service for at least two weeks during an extensive and lengthy heatwave.

Defective Parachute
A man was on a Navy Seal jump training mission when his reserve parachute prematurely deployed. He was dragged from the plane, hit his head, and fractured his neck. There was a history of premature deployment of reserve chute for this product.

Drunk Hit-and-Run Crash
A driver under the influence of alcohol and drugs was driving a car full of passengers at night. The driver struck a young man, killing him, and sped away.

Oil Rig Truck Crash
Just west of Odessa, Texas, an oil rig truck made a negligent lane change on the highway. He forced a car next to him off the highway and head-on into CaseyGerry’s client and his wife, who were driving on the same highway in the opposite direction. The husband died at the scene from his injuries.

Nurse’s Negligence
A three-year-old girl suffocated to death when her trach tube became blocked while being transported on a school bus with a nurse.  She was life-flighted to the hospital but tragically, she succumbed to her injuries.

Getting Help

Each of our clients’ stories vary, but one fact is consistently true: someone else’s carelessness led to the death of their loved one. If it happened to you, CaseyGerry can seek compensation for the losses you have incurred. California’s statute of limitations limits the time you have to file a lawsuit against the responsible party, so acting immediately is critical. We welcome you to contact our office at (619-238-1811 .