A driver who fatally hit a teen with her SUV is now suing the dead boy’s family for $1 million over the accident.
Teenagers Brandon Majewski, 17, and his 16-year-old friends Richard McLean and Jake Roberts were riding on a two-lane rural road in Innisfil, Ontario when Sharlen Simon, 42, struck the teens in the early morning on October 28, 2012. The trio was transported to a local hospital to be examined for injuries. Two hours later after the accident, Majewski was pronounced dead. McLean suffered from broken bones-namely a broken pelvis- and spent weeks recovering in the hospital. Roberts did not have any serious injuries.
Simon was interviewed by police, who noted she was not under the influence of any substance during the accident. Investigators attributed the accident to the lack of visibility of the bicyclists, adding Simon “did not see the cyclists on the roadway and was unable to make an evasive reaction.” A petition has been started to encourage Police to further investigate the incident.
She did not report any injuries stemming from the accident. That is, until December 2013, when she slapped Majewski’s estate and the other two teens with a $1.5 million lawsuit for “great pain and suffering.”
She has suffered from depression, anxiety, irritability and post-traumatic stress, and that the “enjoyment of life has been irretrievably lessened” since the accident, according to the documents.
Majewski’s family and attorneys are stunned at her decision to move forward with the case. Brandon’s mother Venetta Mylnczyk told the Toronto Sun,
“She killed my child and now she wants to profit from it? She says she’s in pain? Tell her to look inside my head and she will see pain, she will see panic, she will see nightmares.”
“It’s a tragedy what happened to the boys, but it’s also a tragedy that’s happened to (Simon),” her lawyer Michael Ellis said. “I understand their grief and I understand what they must be going through is awful, but my client is also living with this nightmare every day.”