KENTLAND | Savannah was just two days away from her planned birth when she was killed along with her young mother in a collision with a semitrailer last month.
Her father and grandmother filed a wrongful death suit on her behalf against the trucker and his company on Tuesday in Newton Circuit Court, a case which could change the way state law considers unborn viable children who are killed.
Witnesses told police that James Wilson, a driver with Suzy-Q Trucking of Indianapolis, was westbound on Ind. 10 east of Newton County Road 75 West just before 6:30 a.m. on March 21 when he attempted to pass another truck while climbing a hill in a no-passing zone.
Megan Nelson, 21, of Rensselaer, was eastbound on Ind. 10 when Wilson crested the hill in her lane. Nelson crashed head-on into the rear axle of the semitrailer, witnesses said, dying at the scene along with her unborn daughter.
Nelson was scheduled to deliver Savannah on March 23.
The suit, filed by Stephen Ramirez and Melissa Nelson, seeks unspecified damages for hospital, funeral, burial and estate administration costs, as well as for loss of love, affection and companionship.
At the heart of the case are Savannah's and her father's rights under the state's Child Wrongful Death Act. Indiana is one of 10 states which have no civil provision regarding unborn viable children who are killed.
Attorneys for Ramirez argue that current interpretations of the wrongful death act -- which deny legal standing to the fathers of killed unborn children in court actions -- violate the Equal Privileges and Immunities section of the Indiana Constitution.
"Savannah's family believes that changing the law in Indiana will allow some good to come out of such a tragic event," said Kevin Smith of Rubino, Ruman, Crosmer, Cerven, Smith & Sersic, the Dyer firm representing Ramirez and Nelson.
"It's hard to believe that Indiana isn't further in helping unborn children," Smith said, "Especially those that are so close to being born -- (Savannah) was an individual, just like the rest of us."
