A new personal injury case has been filed in the wake of the “Midnight Rider” train accident which killed Sarah Jones and injured seven others on Feb. 20. In a suit obtained by The Wrap, injured makeup artist Antonyia Vera seeks compensation for serious physical injuries, post traumatic stress, lost income, physical pain, necessary expenses and mental anguish.
Verna adds her suit to previous cases brought by the parents of Sarah Jones and injured hairstylist Joyce Gillard. All suits seek damages from producer/singer Gregg Allman, Open Road Films, Unclaimed Freight Productions, Meddin Studios as well as writer/producer Jody Savin and other individuals deemed responsible for safety at the time of the filming. CSX Transportation, the logistics company responsible for running the trains is also named in these suits.
The Wrap previously reported that the crash occurred when the production placed a hospital bed on a railroad trestle bridge while filming in Georgia. They expected only two trains to pass by during the filming. A third freighter train came across the bridge at “60 miles an hour” causing the death of second camera assistant Sarah Jones. Debris from the hospital bed was responsible for injuring the others as they attempted to escape the oncoming train.
All were rushed to local hospitals for treatment.
In the lawsuit, Vera claims that producers were never given permission to film on the trestle bridge. It goes on to state that producers willfully kept this information from the cast. It alleges that producers failed to achieve “minimum safety precautions” and did not “comply with applicable industry standards.”
Also read:Gregg Allman, ‘Midnight Rider’ Producers Hit With Wrongful Death Lawsuit by Sarah Jones Family
Vera’s complaint says that the cast and crew filming on the trestle bridge would be given “60 seconds to remove themselves, the equipment, and the hospital bed” to a safe location if a train did approach. However, this warning neglected the fact that the safest possible escape meant running towards the train oncoming train.
The suit states that defendants decided upon an “unreasonably dangerous” location and failed to provide a “safety meeting prior to filming,” on set medical professionals, or even a “look-out” to make sure that a train was not approaching during the time of the filming.
Antonyia Vera and her husband Richard Brewer are seeking “compensatory damages from the defendants in an amount to be proven at trial.”
Production “Midnight Rider” has been shut down as a result of the accident. However, no claims of responsibility for death or injury have been made on the behalf of the defendants.
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.