A jury last week determined that the father of a 12-year-old Woodland boy who died as the result of an auto accident was negligent in teaching his son to drive illegally on public roads, and therefore created the circumstances that led to his son's death.
Last week's three-day civil trial decided the distribution of the $125,000 insurance settlement to the estate of Jake Fry, whose only survivors are his divorced parents, Kathy and Loren Fry.
The jury gave Kathy Fry 94 percent while Loren Fry will receive six percent, or about $6,700, said Joseph Daggy, attorney for Kathy Fry.
"There's a high probability there are no funds left (of the $6,700)," due to legal fees, he said.
Jake Fry died Feb. 27, 2007, from injuries sustained in a two-car accident in Woodland the previous day. The boy was behind the wheel of a 1993 Ford Taurus belonging to his father's girlfriend, Kelley Hill, who was in the passenger seat. Her 12-year-old daughter was also in the car.
Skid mark analysis indicated Jake was driving at 80 mph in a 35 mph zone on North Pekin Road when he lost control of the car and crashed into a 2005 Toyota Sequoia carrying a woman and her granddaughter.
In February 2008, Hill pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter and third-degree assault. She was sentenced to five years in prison and was released from probation in June.
Loren Fry wanted the insurance settlement split equally between himself and his ex-wife, insisting he was not to blame for his son's death because he was at work when the accident happened.
He initially claimed his son drove "very infrequently" and only in a field when they went fishing, according to court documents.
But four witnesses testified at the civil trial that Loren Fry often let his son drive, Daggy said. Documents in the court file show many additional statements by witnesses to police about seeing the boy driving illegally with his father, Hill or both in the car, often taking them to the store on beer runs.
Loren Fry also admitted in court that he let Jake drive on public roads, Daggy said.
"It was amazing how much they let him drive," Daggy said.
The jury concluded that Loren Fry was more at fault than Hill even though Hill was the adult in the car at the time of the accident, Daggy said.
"The conclusion was it was unlikely Kelley would have let Jake drive if Loren hadn't started the problem," Daggy said.
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