The mother of one of five nursing students killed in a Georgia highway crash last week is suing the trucking company that employed the driver suspected of causing the fiery collision.
Kim Deloach McQuaig filed the wrongful death suit Wednesday against Total Transportation of Mississippi and its parent company, Tennessee-based U.S. Xpress Enterprises.
The civil suit in Bryan County State Court seeks monetary damages for the death of McQuaig’s daughter, 21-year-old Abbie Deloach of Savannah, who was traveling to her last day of training in Savannah.
Those also killed in the crash were all in their junior year of college: Emily Clark of Powder Springs, Morgan Bass of Leesburg, Catherine “McKay” Pittman of Alpharetta and Caitlyn Baggett of Millen.
The Georgia State Patrol has said the April 22 crash on Interstate 16 appears to have been caused by a tractor-trailer that smashed into stop-and-go traffic slowed by an unrelated wreck.
The tractor-trailer plowed into an SUV, then rolled over a small passenger car that burst into flames, said Sgt. 1st Class Chris Nease of the Georgia State Patrol. The big truck came to a halt after slamming into the back of a tanker.
Total Transportation CEO John Stomps did not immediately return a phone message Thursday.
The Georgia State Patrol said three people also were injured and seven vehicles were damaged.
The crash occurred at about 6 a.m. in Bryan County, about 20 miles west of Savannah. Traffic was heavy at that hour because an unrelated wreck about a mile ahead that forced motorists to slow, Nease said.
“Traffic was sort of stop-and-go when the tractor-trailer came along and struck one of the passenger vehicles in the rear,” Nease said. “We’re still trying to piece it all together. It’s a terrible day.”
— The Associated Press contributed to this report
