Settlement proposed in fatal collision

CARSON CITY -- State officials have recommended a payment of $1.3 million to 14 individuals and three estates to settle claims arising from an accident caused by a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper that killed four people south of Las Vegas in 2006.

The state Board of Examiners, which includes Gov. Jim Gibbons, will consider the recommendation from the state attorney general's office when it meets Tuesday.

The payment would settle all of the claims, which could total $4 million to $5 million if the case went to trial and a jury found in favor of the victims' relatives, a report to the board says.

The collision occurred on Feb. 19, 2006 when trooper Joshua Corcran, who was traveling at 113 mph, rear-ended a 1988 Cadillac carrying five passengers. The collision forced their vehicle off the road on Interstate 15 near Sloan.

Killed in the crash were 21-year-old Victor De La Cruz-De Leon; 21-year-old Reymunda Lopez-Vazquez; 42-year-old Jose Sanchez Lopez; and 19-year-old Jose Roberto Mejia Lang.

Cecilia Lopez Cruz, the pregnant 16-year-old wife of De La Cruz-De Leon, was the sole survivor from the crash.

All of the victims were illegal immigrants from Mexico.

The trooper later apologized to the families and pleaded guilty in August 2006 to five counts of reckless driving causing death or bodily damage. Corcran received a one- to six-year prison sentence for each of the counts. He is serving his sentence at an undisclosed prison in another state.

The recommended $1.3 million payment is the second to come to the Board of Examiners as a result of the accident. In November the board paid $150,000 to the parents of three of the victims.

The new proposal before the board is on behalf of Victor De La Cruz-De Leon and would settle all remaining claims stemming from the crash.