The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

August 24, 2012

Mother settles suit over daughter’s death

By Joe Pinchot Herald Staff Writer

SHENANGO VALLEY — The mother of a teacher killed in a traffic crash in 2009 has settled a wrongful death suit against PennDOT over the condition of a state road at the time of the crash.

Cynthia L. Miller accepted $187,500 for the benefit of her daughter’s three children.

A year ago, Miller, administratrix of her daughter’s estate, accepted a $375,000 settlement from other defendants.

The daughter, Melissa Miller, 35, of Lackawannock Township, died Feb. 27, 2009, after her eastbound sport-utility vehicle hit an icy patch on the Shenango Valley Freeway and then an embankment, and rolled over, Hermitage police said.

Melissa Miller was a Farrell Elementary School teacher and West Middlesex High School volleyball coach.

The suit filed Dec. 10, 2009, alleged defects in the stormwater drainage system in the 2400 block of the freeway caused water to pool on the road and freeze. The Stonegate housing development built just to the west of the crash scene contributed to the problem, the suit said.

PennDOT investigated the area after the Miller crash and a spokesman said it was discovered that a catch basin near the scene was buried in dirt, garbage and debris, causing water to back up onto the highway.

The defendants charged that Melissa Miller was under the influence of alcohol and Codeine at the time of the accident, which they said could be “a cause or the cause of the accident.”

Hermitage police said Melissa Miller’s blood-alcohol level was twice the legal limit, and the level of Codeine was enough to impair her driving ability.

Cynthia Miller’s attorneys questioned whether her daughter’s use of alcohol or her blood-alcohol level were admissible evidence.

Under the settlement approved Aug. 6 by Mercer County Common Pleas Court Judge Thomas R. Dobson, the grandchildren will receive $112,028, to be placed into minor’s accounts they can access when they are adults; $68,338 will go to Mrs. Miller’s attorney, George M. Kontos of Swensen, Peter & Kontos, Pittsburgh; and $7,034 will cover expenses.

Mrs. Miller also sued Western Reserve Land Consultants, Boardman, Ohio, former employee Brad L. Goodballet and former volunteer Kerri L. Kampfer, who agreed a year ago to pay $325,000; and UDE of Freeway, a limited partnership related to Universal Development Inc., Girard, Ohio, and R.T. Vernal Paving Co. Inc., North Lima, Ohio, who each paid $25,000.

Stonegate is owned by UDE of Freeway. Western Reserve surveyed the Stonegate land and prepared development documents and Vernal performed paving and excavation.

As a result of both settlements, Melissa Miller’s children – ages 13, 9 and 8 – will split $300,966, with the law firm earning $218,338, and $43,096 to cover expenses.

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