Does the Family of Amber Rose Fayette Lewis Who Was Killed in a Norfolk Accident, Have Grounds for a Wrongful Death Suit?

When passengers are killed in car crashes their families sometimes believe they don’t have grounds to seek compensation for the loss of their loved one because he or she willingly got into a car being driven by an at-fault driver.

This is not the case because passengers often do have grounds to make a claim against the driver’s insurance policy for injuries. This is also the case in wrongful death cases, which are the most heart wrenching cases I deal with as a Norfolk personal injury lawyer.

Just two days ago 25-year-old Amber Rose Fayette Lewis lost her life in a car crash on Chesapeake Boulevard in Norfolk. It appears the driver was speeding.

She was a front seat passenger in the car. My thoughts are with her grieving family.

A wrongful death lawsuit can help you provide for your family’s future after their tragic loss and help them cope with the financial hardships that a death has left behind.

Surviving family members can file a claim to seek money for a number of different types of financial hardships, such as:

• Hospital expenses
• Funeral expenses
• Projected future income
• Health insurance and other work related benefits
• Projected future financial contributions (e.g. school tuition and home mortgages)
• Loss of the value of services to the family (e.g. household work)

A wrongful death settlement may go beyond this to include compensation for “loss of solace,” which refers to the emotional loss experienced by spouses and children of the deceased. The harms claimed in a wrongful death lawsuit can extend to the loss of companionship, and other grief that the premature loss of a life can entail.

Wrongful death settlements are often higher than personal injury settlements. Recently I secured a $3.5 million for the family of a passenger who died when he was trapped in a car that was hit by a truck on the I-64 in Norfolk. All cases are different and we cannot guarantee the result of your case.

The Norfolk, VA based personal injury law firm, Cooper Hurley with client meeting locations in Virginia Beach and Hampton, handles automobile, truck, and motorcycle injuries as well as wrongful death, railroad injury cases and medical malpractice. John Cooper and Jim Hurley have more than 40 years of combined experience in specializing in auto injury as well as other accident claims. Attorney John Cooper has been named to Virginia “Super Lawyers” since 2010. Cooper Hurley represents people hurt in accidents in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News and throughout VA. Our motto is: “Your Injury. Our fight.” If you need help or advice about a serious injury, please call us at (757) 455 -0077 or contact us through this website.