After a paternity battle in court, the determined father of a woman killed in a traffic accident reached a $534,099 settlement with the driver’s insurance company.
The suit wasn’t the typical wrongful death claim. St. Louis County Circuit Court first had to settle which plaintiff was the decedent’s father.
Rudolph Williams was the first to file the wrongful death suit, claiming that he was the biological father of Tiwana Gilyard, the victim in the crash. Abbie Gilyard, who was married to Tiwana’s mother at the time of her birth and listed as the father on her birth certificate, filed a cross-petition and asked for the court to determine paternity.
Results from blood testing did reveal that Williams might be Tiwana’s biological father.
The court in a summary judgment found in favor of Abbie Gilyard. Because Williams didn’t assert his paternity within five years of Tiwana’s birth, he was barred by the statute of limitations from the wrongful death claim. Tiwana was 29 when she was killed in the car accident.
“It was a two-part battle for us,” said Daniel Tobben, Abbie Gilyard’s attorney. “We had won on paternity but then had to go through discovery and really address the wrongful death claim.”
On Aug. 21, 2006, Tiwana Gilyard was driving south on Interstate 270 near Dorsett Road in suburban St. Louis when she was struck by the defendant Edward Spreckelmeyer, who was driving a tractor-trailer. It was during the morning rush hour and Spreckelmeyer failed to stop with traffic, ramming into Gilyard’s car.
Gilyard’s vehicle caught on fire, and she died at the scene.
“We’re not sure if she died instantly,” Tobben said. “It looks that way though. After the accident, the car was unrecognizable.”
Two other drivers were injured in the accident. Helen Stocking had some soft tissue damage and had property damage to her car. Greg Gleason was more seriously injured and had multiple closed head injuries, causing brain damage. Both parties filed suit against Spreckelmeyer and his employer, Jason Hauk with Sharp Cars Detailing & More.
The insurance company, Progressive, agreed to settle the case if all claimants would split the company’s policy limits, $1 million.
“We were able to settle all the smaller property damage claims and Stocking’s injury claim for under $100,000,” said defense attorney Daniel Wilke.
The remaining amount of the policy was divided between Gleason and Gilyard. Gleason received 35 percent of the policy for his personal injury claim and Gilyard received 65 percent for his wrongful death claim.
Gilyard agreed to award 10 percent of his settlement, $59,344, to Williams.
“We didn’t want the paternity issue to go on appeal, so we paid Williams part of the settlement,” Tobben said.
In total, Gilyard received $534,099 in the settlement.
“We were very happy to have the case settled as Abbie Gilyard is in his 80s and didn’t want to go through a lengthy trial process,” Tobben said.
August 11, 2008
