SLIDELL, La. – A man was taken into custody and charged with negligent homicide in connection with the death of Antoine Lewis in St. Tammany Parish.
Preliminary findings indicate that Lewis was traveling northbound on the bridge in his 2018 Ram 1500 when he collided with the rear of an abandoned 2004 Ford F-350, which was hauling a box trailer. Mr. Lewis sustained fatal injuries from the impact.
The driver of the Ford F-350 had abandoned the vehicle and trailer on the bridge for unknown reasons and had exited the bridge in another vehicle before the collision.
Mr. Garcia has been charged with negligent homicide.
Those Responsible for This Crash Must Be Held Accountable.
What a senseless incident. There are no excuses for the choices the truck driver made that caused the death of Mr. Lewis. It brings some comfort to hear he was arrested for negligent homicide, but in the eyes of the law, this is not enough. There are still unanswered questions about what transpired that morning on the bridge, and if there are additional wrongdoers in this terrible accident, they also need to be held accountable.
For one, we have not heard any details on the trucking company that owned the abandoned truck. What was their role in this accident? Did they get this driver’s credentials and driving record? Did he have repeated violations but chose to ignore all the red flags? Employers are responsible for hiring safe, qualified drivers whose actions do not place other motorists at risk for injuries or deaths. They also have a duty to train their drivers and mandate safe driving from their employees.
The most important question that needs answering is why the truck was abandoned on the bridge. Did the truck break down due to a mechanical issue? All these questions need answering because the law is concerned with holding all wrongdoers accountable for their actions to ensure the family of the deceased receives full compensation for their suffering.
An investigation will help Mr. Lewis’s family get some much-needed answers. Trained professionals will visit the crash site and look at hiring documents and truck maintenance records to determine all the factors that led to the truck being abandoned on the morning of this crash. With this information, all wrongdoers can be held accountable.
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The Ammons Law Firm represents clients nationwide in catastrophic injury and wrongful death litigation, with extensive experience in complex auto/tire defect and commercial vehicle cases.
Disclaimer: This post is not legal advice. Information contained in this blog was compiled from third-party sources or is the opinion of the author. Please inform us immediately if false or misleading information is contained in this post.
