Driver, company sued in four deaths

Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2000 | 10:58 a.m.

The families of the victims of a deadly traffic accident that killed four people in May have filed a civil suit against a drunken driver.

The estates of Mary Lynn Sargent, James Burton Hendron, Michelle Jamieson and Julius Azzari filed suit against Michael Pickett, Kolob Heating & Cooling, Mark Matthew Sanson and Brian Thornton.

Pickett pleaded guilty to four felony counts of drunken driving and was sentenced to 16 to 40 years in prison by District Judge Joseph Bonaventure last month. The pickup that Pickett was driving, which slammed into the family's sedan at Main Street and Washington Avenue, belonged to Kolob, which is co-owned by Sanson and Thornton.

Sargent, 46, and Hendron, 59, her boyfriend of 16 years, died at the scene of the May 10 accident. Sargent's daughter, Jamieson, 22, who was eight months pregnant, died the next day after undergoing an emergency Caesarian section. The baby, Julius, suffered brain and kidney damage and died five days later.

The suit seeks unspecified damages resulting from Pickett's negligence and said Sanson and Thornton also were responsible for allowing Pickett to operate the vehicle.