Posted on Sat, May. 03, 2008

Lawsuit filed in teen's death

STUDENT KILLED IN TRUCK-BUS CRASH

By Jillian Ogawa

JOGAWA@HERALD-LEADER.COM

FALMOUTH --

The family of a boy killed Thursday when the bus he was riding in was struck by a dump truck filed a lawsuit Friday afternoon against the truck driver and the trucking company.

Daniel Wood, 16, of Falmouth died after a dump truck, driven by Francisco Yulfo of XXL Trucking, crossed the center line on Ky. 22 in Northern Kentucky and sideswiped a bus for Pendleton County Schools, according to police.

The lawsuit was filed in Pendleton Circuit Court.

The family's attorney, Phil Taliaferro, said the family was seeking evidence related to the accident, including the driver's training record, personnel record, cell phone records and the truck maintenance record.

Taliaferro said a letter has been sent to the trucking company and its lawyer.

Danny Ray Fannin of West Liberty, who is listed in the lawsuit as the agent of XXL Trucking, told Cincinnati news station WLWT that road conditions threw off the driver. The news station Web site quotes Fannin as saying: "I think it was that big dip in the road, and it just throwed him, and once it happened, it happened."

Fannin could not be reached by the Herald-Leader.

A court hearing was set for 9:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Pendleton County Courthouse.

The lawsuit claims Yulfo was negligent, causing Daniel's younger siblings to experience pain and suffering and Daniel's parents, Toni and Dwight Wood, have suffered a loss of consortium, or companionship.

Daniel's younger siblings, Travis and Jordan Elizabeth, were among the 10 other students, ages 5 to 16, on the bus who, along with bus driver Sue Simpson and Yulfo, were treated and discharged by St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Grant County.

The truck was hauling gravel and was coming from the Butler Quarry in northern Pendleton County, said Sheriff Craig Peoples. The bus received heavy damage, including broken windows on the rear driver's side.

Peoples said Thursday that Yulfo had been driving for the trucking company for two weeks but had prior driving experience.

Daniel's parents and other relatives were at the Pendleton County Courthouse on Friday afternoon.

Relatives said Daniel liked the outdoors, hunting and fishing, and was active in sports.

"He liked to take walks down in the woods," mother Toni Wood said. "He was just your all-around, everyday boy."

Daniel also participated in the community theater as a stagehand, and his brother Travis would act.

"He felt he was supporting his brother," Toni Wood said. "He was a very dedicated brother and son."

Daniel was part of ROTC at Pendleton County High School, and the ROTC is planning to have a tribute for him Saturday, the family said.

"This family will never be the same," said Daniel's aunt Vicki Dalton.

School principal Ron Livingood said some students have been putting up cards or photos of Wood in the cafeteria or in the lobby of the high school. Students have also been gathering donations for the family, he said.

"He was a great kid, well liked by everybody," he said.

Visitation for Daniel will be 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Peoples Funeral Home in Falmouth. The funeral will be at 3 p.m. Saturday, also at the funeral home.

Wood will be buried 11 a.m. Monday at Independence Cemetery in Independence.

Peoples Funeral Home said a memorial fund has been set up through Fifth Third Bank under Toni Wood for Daniel Wood.

Wood is survived by his parents, brother, sister, his grandparents Phil and Kathy Gilliland of Chattanooga, Tenn., and Marlene Lozier of Warsaw, and several aunts, uncles and cousins.