CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) – A Charleston County mother says Lyft, one of its drivers and the renters and property managers of an Airbnb are responsible for her son’s death that happened more than five years ago.
During a Monday hearing, David Cleveland, defense attorney for Lyft driver Jonathan Wright, says he is seeking a court order for the mental health records of a woman who lost her son in an October 2018 crash.
Cyndee Roumillat claims she has “mental and emotional distress” after her 19-year-old son Landon Dias was hit and killed by a Lyft driver on East Ashley Avenue on Folly Beach, according to a lawsuit.
The lawsuit, filed by Roumillat, says he was at a sixteenth birthday party at an Airbnb, then rented by the 16-year-old’s mother Jamie Sanchez Rios and her boyfriend labeled as John Doe, where alcohol was served to underage people prior to the accident.
The postmortem forensic toxicology examination revealed the 19-year-old’s blood alcohol content was 0.14% and he ended up lying in the roadway due to such incapacitation.
The lawsuit claims the Lyft driver failed to see Dias signaling for help, failed to keep proper control of his vehicle and then ran him over, leading to his death.
The suit states the Airbnb renters knew or should have known not to serve the alcohol to underage kids and that the property managers Pilcher Living Trust, Robert B. Pilcher and a few unnamed defendants knew or should have known that it was the renters’ intention.
It was revealed in Monday’s hearing that Roumillat had prior treatment with Palmetto Behavioral Health for a few years before Dias died. She claims that all parties were negligent and that she deserves statutory damages under the wrongful death act.
Her attorney, Michael Cooper, says the mental health records are not necessary.
“There’s nothing particularly in these records that they don’t already have,” Cooper said. “So, they said, ‘Hey, my alleged good cause.’ There’s no good cause to go into such private matters for the mother of this dead child.”
Cleveland argues they are.
“She was on anti-depressants before and after her son passed away,” Cleveland said. “It goes to the issue of proximate cause. I think we’re entitled to it. The records are relevant. Whether it be admissible will be determined at a later time.”
Both sides said they did not want to make any additional comment on the pending litigation.
Judge Jennifer McCoy says she will entertain the orders and has asked both sides to file them for her to take a closer look. There is no timeline for when that might be decided.
You can read the lawsuit in its entirety below, or click here.
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