|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Following a deadly street racing collision on November 4, 2022, the family of the San Carlos couple who died has filed a wrongful death lawsuit that includes a demand for a jury trial. The suit was filed on behalf of Gregory Ammen and Grace Spiridon’s surviving twin daughters.
The complaint, filed on June 6 by Ammen family attorney Niall McCarthy, seeks relief for the twins in the form of past and future medical expenses and other compensation as allowed under the wrongful death statute.
“You have two 8-year-old girls who are going to need funds for education, healthcare and essential living until they’re adults,” McCarthy told this news organization in a phone interview. “I certainly want to see some type of economic recovery for these two young girls whose lives have been forever altered.”
The twins, Madison and Olivia Ammen, survived and suffered minor injuries. Their parents met in middle school and started dating while they were students at Palo Alto High School, family and friends said.
Defendants in the case include 23-year-old Kyle Harrison and Cesar Salto Morales, the latter, who was a minor at the time of the collision. Morales’s parents and two unidentified minor passengers in Morales’ car are also listed in the complaint.
When they pulled up to the same traffic light, Morales challenged Harrison to a race as the two revved their engines back and forth, according to Harrison’s account to law enforcement, the complaint states. Passengers in Morales’ car, identified in the complaint as E.S. and J.M., shouted at Harrison to provoke him to race, while a passenger in Harrison’s car yelled at Morales to “blow the light.”
The newly filed civil suit alleges that the parents of Morales knew their teen engaged in street racing activity and allowed him to modify the vehicle he crashed that night to increase its speed and power. For allegedly knowing their son was drawn to reckless driving and paying for the modifications to the vehicle, the Ammen family is suing Morales for negligence and his parents for negligent entrustment.
The two minors in the car with Morales, along with the other driver, Kyle Harrison, are also being sued for negligence: Harrison for recklessly and unlawfully operating his vehicle to cause a collision, and the other passengers for allegedly taunting and encouraging Harrison and Morales to race at high speeds.
Harrison and Morales are both currently facing criminal charges related to the case, including second-degree murder charges. Harrison has already pleaded not guilty to all six counts against him, including the two counts of murder and four counts related to alleged drag racing and injuries to other parties.
Morales is currently being held in juvenile detention. If tried as an adult in criminal court, both he and Harrison could face sentences of 15 years to life in prison.
McCarthy said the reason the family is filing the lawsuit is to raise awareness about the dangers of reckless driving and racing.
“This particular family is very focused on shedding some light on what happened here,” McCarthy said. “The hope is that this case is gonna prevent one other person from drag racing, street racing, being in a sideshow, or doing something that endangers the life of an innocent bystander.”
Bay City News contributed to this report.
