A Colorado jury has awarded $65 million to a 14-year-old boy whose mother was killed four years ago when a piece of concrete dislodged from a bridge and fell through her windshield. The verdict, announced Tuesday, is described by the family's attorneys as the largest trucking crash jury verdict in Colorado history.
Megan Arneson, a preschool teacher and the boy's single mother, died on August 8, 2022, when the concrete struck her as she drove her son home from an outing to Water World in Denver. The then 10-year-old son was in the backseat and sustained minor injuries.
The accident occurred when an excavator arm being transported by a semi-truck, driven by Darnell Yingling with Import Towing & Recovery, struck the underside of a bridge. The impact dislodged the concrete that ultimately killed Arneson, causing her vehicle to go off the road.
Arneson's family filed a lawsuit alleging negligence and recklessness against Yingling and Import Towing & Recovery. Following a five-day trial, the jury found Yingling 52% responsible for the wrongful death damages and Import Towing & Recovery 46% responsible. Yingling is expected to pay $33.8 million, and the company $29.9 million.
Attorneys for the family were able to have non-economic damage caps removed from the case by securing a judicial finding that the defendants' conduct was so egregious it rose to the level of felonious killing. In Colorado, non-economic damages in wrongful death cases are typically capped at around $2 million.
According to the law firm's news release, the Colorado State Patrol investigation confirmed the excavator was improperly loaded onto the trailer, causing its arm to exceed the bridge's maximum clearance height. Yingling had obtained his unrestricted Commercial Driver’s License, allowing him to tow the excavator, just four days prior to the incident.
In November 2023, Yingling pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide-reckless driving and was sentenced to four years in community corrections, a type of halfway house for felony offenders, and ordered to complete 300 hours of community service.
The law office representing Import Towing & Recovery stated that Arneson's death was a tragic accident and the only one in the company's 35-year history. Arneson's son is now in the care of his grandparents.
"We're just incredibly grateful... to have a jury of people from the community in Larimer County come in and take the time to thoughtfully listen to the evidence and really consider and listen to our client," attorney Kari Jones Dulin told the Daily Mail. "I can say also on behalf of our clients that they feel blessed that this jury listened to them and heard them, and they truly feel like the verdict sends a message that will make change and hopefully prevent injuries and deaths on the roadways of Colorado." Dulin added, "But most importantly, they feel like they got justice for Megan and her son."