Orangeburg County Family Gets Settlement After Child Dies in Car Accident on Way Home from Wedding
By all accounts, Kavontea Shuler’s death was preventable. He died in a car accident at age seven; the family friend who was driving the car was at fault for the accident. First responders arrived at the scene of the accident promptly, but medical professionals did not approach his case with the urgency it deserved, either before or after he arrived at the hospital. His mother filed civil lawsuits against several parties responsible for the events that led to Kavontea’s untimely death. A Columbia car accident lawyer can help you if you were injured in a car accident and if your injuries became worse because of the actions taken or not taken by responsible parties in the immediate aftermath of the accident.
A Tragic Accident Made Worse by Insufficient Medical Attention
On the last day of his life, December 8, 2018, Kavontea Shuler served as a ring bearer at a wedding. His mother LaQuisha Miller left the reception before he did, leaving him in the care of one of her cousins. Without Miller’s knowledge, her cousin gave Keith Ragin permission to drive Kavontea home, since the child wanted to ride with Ragin’s son, who was his friend. On the way home from the wedding, Ragin lost control of the car when driving on a wet road and crashed into a ditch; Kavontea was ejected from the vehicle when it overturned. Ragin called Orangeburg County EMS at 9:50, and an SUV arrived at 10:07.
A sheriff’s deputy examined Shuler in the back of the SUV and saw that his shoulder was injured; the EMS SUV drove the child to Regional Medical Center. All the while, a helicopter was parked outside the hospital, ready for a situation like this one, when it could transport an injured person to a hospital with a level-one trauma center. In the emergency room at RMC, no one performed an ultrasound or any other kind of test that would have enabled doctors to diagnose his internal injuries; he had suffered injuries to his liver and kidneys. Several hours later, while he was still waiting for treatment of what doctors mistakenly assumed was just a shoulder injury, his heart rate dropped, and doctors were unable to save him.
For his role in the accident, Ragin was convicted of vehicular homicide and reckless endangerment of a child. He is currently serving a prison sentence. Miller filed a civil lawsuit against Ragin and was awarded $50,000. In March 2020, she received a $1.1 million settlement from RMC and from Orangeburg County for their negligence in treating Kavontea’s injuries appropriately. Miller says that she will use some of the money to help prevent other accidents like the one that claimed Kavontea’s life.
Contact Us Today for Help
A car accident lawyer can help you recover damages if you have lost a loved one in a preventable car accident. Contact The Stanley Law Group for help today.
Resource:
thetandd.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/rmc-to-pay-1-1m-in-death-7-year-old-died-following-crash-in-2018/article_3aef446b-7afd-5551-98fb-f36bd1f91bfb.html
