Family wins $150 million after Jeep fire kills toddler - The Detroit News
A Georgia jury late Thursday awarded the family of a four-year-old killed in a Jeep SUV fire $150 million — and found Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV was responsible for nearly all of the damages. The trial opened last month in Bainbridge, Georgia, in Decatur County Superior Court in the death of Remington Walden, 4, who died after the 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by his aunt, Emily Newsome, was hit in the rear by a 1997 Dodge Dakota. At the time of the crash, federal safety regulators were investigating fires in Jeep SUVs, including the model involved in the fatal crash. Regulators had requested a recall, but Chrysler resisted until a more-limited recall was issued for similar models before 1999. Under government pressure after the crash, Fiat Chrysler recalled an estimated 1. 56 million 2002-07 Jeep Liberty and... Fiat Chrysler agreed to conduct a customer service campaign for another 1. 2 million 1999-2004 Grand Cherokees including the one involved in the crash. The verdict included $30 million for pain and suffering, $120 million for Walden's life. It also assigned 1 percent of the fault to the driver of the vehicle that hit Walden's SUV and 99 percent to Fiat Chrysler. Source: www.detroitnews.com
