The families of two young people who died in a car crash are suing the car company on claims the crash related to defective ignition switches in the vehicle.
Alan and Margaret Dyer, individually and on behalf of the estate of Emma Dyer, and Melanie Mosley and Paul Harmon, individually and on behalf of the estate of Anthony Harmon, filed a lawsuit May 15 in the Jefferson County District Court against General Motors L.L.C., Classic Southeast Texas Inc., formerly know as Saturn of Southeast Texas, and Kenneth Ruddy, citing negligence, gross negligence and recklessness.
The lawsuit states Emma Dyer and her friend Anthony Harmon were traveling in a 2005 Saturn Ion on a Texas road on Sept. 6, 2005, when Emma suddenly lost the ability to steer or control her vehicle.
The car left the road, entered a grassy area and crashed into a nearby canal, killing both Emma and Anthony, the complaint states.
GM issued recalls in 2014 of many of its vehicles, including Emma’s Saturn model, for defective ignition switches, the complaint states. The switches changed position and caused the engine to lose power, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit states GM should have been more aggressive in issuing recalls earlier when the problem was first discovered.
The plaintiffs are being represented by Robert C. Hilliard and other attorneys from Hilliard Munoz Gonzales LLP in Corpus Christi.
Jefferson County District Court Case No. B195-717
This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed at the Jefferson County District Court. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note that a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt, and it represents only one side of the story.