ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 29, 1996 TAG: 9602290085
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER
THEIR MOTHER WAS KILLED at the Ironto rest stop in 1994 when her tow truck was smashed between two tractor-trailers and caught fire.
The children of a tow truck driver killed in a 1994 accident at the Ironto rest stop could receive more than $4 million under a settlement approved Wednesday.
Candace Williams, 9, and her brother Alton, 7, will begin receiving money from the structured settlement when they reach 18. Their mother, Kathy Jones Williams, was killed in August 1994 when the tow truck she was driving burst into flames at the Interstate 81 rest area after it was crushed between two tractor-trailers.
Williams, the owner-operator of East Side Chevron in Radford, had stopped her truck behind a rig driven by Jose Estrella. Estrella had turned into the passenger-car lane heading into the rest area and stopped when he realized his mistake.
Seconds later, Melvin Vargas followed Estrella's truck into the rest area and could not stop before hitting Williams.
Both men were driving trucks owned by Dynamic Delivery Corp., a New Jersey trucking company. The settlement approved by a federal judge Wednesday releases the drivers, Dynamic Delivery and their insurance companies from further liability.
The settlement guarantees the two children money for college, lifetime monthly income payments and lump-sum payments every five years for 35 years.
"It's a very fair settlement under the circumstances," said attorney Jimmy Turk, who represented First National Bank of Christiansburg along with James Hartley. The bank serves as the administrator of Williams' estate.
While the settlement could add up to more than $2 million per child, the settlement is costing the defendants $990,000. Of that, $297,000 goes to the attorneys for the estate's administrator and the rest will purchase annuities to fund the payments to the children.
Vargas, of Florida, was ordered to serve nine months in jail after pleading no contest to reckless driving following the accident. Police estimated Vargas was driving 40 mph. The posted speed limit is 25 mph for the rest-area lanes.
LENGTH: Short : 47 lines KEYWORDS: FATALITYby CNB