(The Associated Press circulated the following on November 10.)
BEAUMONT, Texas — A Texas jury has awarded about $10.9 million to the family of a woman killed when her truck was hit by a train at a Louisiana railroad crossing.
The money from the civil lawsuit filed in district court in Jefferson County will help the family care for the woman’s young daughter, who was paralyzed from the chest down in the crash, said Jason Itkin, one of the family’s attorneys.
The verdict came Friday after a 2 1/2-week trial.
In July 2005, Patsy Ardoin was traveling in a truck with her 4-year-old daughter, Jasmine Cezar, when she stopped at a stop sign in front of a railroad crossing in Vinton, La. The crossing did not have automatic gates or lights, Itkin said.
As Ardoin pulled over the tracks, she was struck by a Union Pacific train, he said.
Itkin said that the jury put 65 percent of the blame on Union Pacific, 15 percent of the blame on Ardoin and 20 percent blame on the state of Louisiana.
Union Pacific spokesman Joe Arbona said the company was disappointed with the verdict and believes there are “substantial grounds for an appeal.” He said Burlington Northern Santa Fe was handling the case because they operate the tracks.
A call to BNSF was not immediately returned on Saturday.
Union Pacific and BNSF have sued the town of Vinton and Ardoin’s estate. That lawsuit is still pending in state court in Louisiana, said Erin Powers, spokesman for Itkin’s law firm.