Nebraska family of Amtrak victims latest to sue in crash
RENO -- A trucking company that employed a driver who hit the side of an Amtrak train in a fatal crash in the Nevada desert was sued Wednesday on behalf of two victims.
William Knox, 71, of Seward, Neb., sued for a minimum of $10,000 in damages over the deaths of his 58-year-old wife, Frances Knox, and 18-year-old granddaughter, Karly Anne Knox.
The lawsuit alleged the John Davis Trucking Co. was negligent by failing to properly hire and train the driver.
It was the fourth lawsuit filed in the case.
"The Knox family has been devastated by this tragedy," said lawyer Bill Bradley, who filed the lawsuit.
The Knoxes were among five people on the train who were killed in the June 24 crash about 70 miles east of Reno, with the truck driver, Lawrence Valli, 43, of Winnemucca.
Knox's lawsuit was filed in Washoe District Court by the same lawyers representing an Amtrak attendant from Illinois who last week filed a lawsuit against the trucking company.
Also, the company was named in lawsuits by another train attendant and by Amtrak itself.
Company officials previously had no comment on the legal proceedings. On Wednesday, they referred questions to Las Vegas lawyer Steven Jaffee, but he was in a meeting and did not return a phone call seeking comment.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating and has found no mechanical problems with the train, including two passenger cars gutted by fire.
Karly Knox was a kidney cancer survivor who had undergone a kidney transplant at age 7, William Knox said.
The couple adopted her and four other grandchildren in 2003 while living near Gilroy, Calif. They later moved to Nebraska. The siblings are a 10-year-old boy and girls ages 12, 14 and 17.
"Now, with the loss of Fran and Annie, Bill is left with the overwhelming responsibility of raising the other four children alone," Thomas Demetrio, a Chicago lawyer with the lead firm in the case, said in a statement Wednesday.
William Knox declined a request for an interview.
