Additional lawsuit filed in train crash

By Charles Sowell  

AUGUST 12, 2011 9:05 a.m. (0)

A second suit was filed in connection with the fatal derailment and crash of Sparkles at Cleveland Park in March.

The first suit in connection with the crash was filed within days of the accident by the family of Timothy and Tasha Harris of Cherokee County.

In papers filed by Greenville attorney Michael Parham in the Spartanburg County Court of Common Pleas, Misti Y. Harris, the mother of Morgan Harris and Camden Harris, is suing Spartanburg County, the county parks commission, the state department of labor, licensing and regulation, Matt Conrad, Donnie Carrigan and Jeff Caton.

Parham said he could not comment on the case under court rules since it is now filed. Neither could any of the participants.

She is seeking unspecified damages for injuries sustained by her sons Camden, 8, and Morgan, 5. One of Camden’s legs was nearly severed when a train car fell on it and Morgan suffered head injuries when he was dashed against rocks in a creek bed.

According to the complaint, Harris of Boiling Springs, and her children went to Cleveland Park to ride the train on March 19. Misti Harris was not on the train, but was watching her children ride.

When the train derailed, Harris sprinted toward the crash and could hear Camden screaming “mommy, mommy,” court papers say.

She found her elder son trapped beneath one of the derailed cars and lifted the car off her child so he could drag himself from underneath, the papers say.

With her oldest boy freed, Harris turned to find her youngest boy lying motionless at the bottom of the creek. Morgan’s head was resting on a rock with his face almost completely covered by creek water. He was bleeding from his nose and mouth and barely breathing, the complaint says.

“As Misti Harris assisted Morgan Harris to the top of the creek bank, she screamed for help saying ‘he’s dying, he’s dying,’ ” the court papers say.

Both children incurred medical bills, suffered emotionally and physically and have suffered permanent injury, according to the suit.

Misti Harris is continuing to undergo therapy for the emotional trauma she suffered through the accident, papers say.

The suit asks that Spartanburg County be held liable since they are the governing body responsible for both the recreation department and the parks commission. The parks commission is being sued for failing to properly supervise the operation of the train.

Matt Conrad is being sued for driving the train too fast. Speed was the official cause of the accident according to the Spartanburg County Coroner’s Office.

Donnie Carrigan is the state inspector who checked the train out prior to the crash. Labor, licensing and regulation is party to the suit for failing to supervise Carrigan.

Jeff Caton is being sued in his role as the former director of the recreation department.

The crash killed six-year-old Benji Easler of Union and injured a total of 28 people.

Just weeks ago Ninth Circuit Solicitor Scarlett Wilson, who took over the case from the Spartanburg solicitor’s office due to a conflict of interest, said, there would be no criminal prosecution in the case.