Death suit ongoing, but money for kids approved
Staff writer
A lawsuit filed last year by daughters of a woman killed in a fiery crash on US-56 has been partially resolved, though a handful of issues remain to be worked out.
In the crash, Nathan D. Puett, 30, Salina, was eastbound when his 2010 Dodge Grand Caravan veered across the center line and crashed head-on into a westbound 2000 Ford F-150 driven by James L. Potter, 70, of Emporia. The Ford caught fire.
Potter and his wife, Jody, were traveling to Abilene Greyhound Park, pulling a trailer filled with greyhounds.
Puett and the Potters died at the scene. Puett’s children, Aspyn J. Goldsberry, 5, and Jensen D. Tomkinson, 3, both of Salina, were pulled from the Dodge by witnesses and taken by ambulance to Wesley Medical Center, Wichita.
Puett’s insurance company, Progressive, had bodily injury limits of $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident.
Progressive will pay $25,000 to each of Puett’s children and each of the Potters’ estates.
Aspyn Goldsberry will get $14,211.97 after lawyer’s fees and a Medicaid lien are paid, and Jensen Tompkinson will get $12,765.73.
Farmers Insurance Co. covered James Potter for underinsured benefits.
Farmers offered $225,000 to resolve personal injury and wrongful death claims related to the death of Jody Potter.
Money will be put in trust until both the Potters’ probate cases in Lyons County are resolved.
Jody Potter’s daughters claim she briefly survived her husband and, therefore, his estate should transfer to her and ultimately to them.