Philadelphia Eagles rookie Jalen Carter is being sued by a survivor of the fatal car crash that killed a University of Georgia teammate, as well as a member of staff following the team’s national championship celebrations in January.
According to ESPN, Victoria Bowles, a former recruiting analyst for UGA, has filed a lawsuit against Carter and the university’s athletic association. The lawsuit, which was filed in state court in Gwinnett County this Wednesday, attributes negligence to the association and pushes back against statements by coach Kirby Smart and other officials.
Said statements claim that Chandler LeCroy, the recruiting staffer who died in the crash, did not have permission to use the SUV she was driving on the night in question.
Following the crash, the association put out a statement noting that “rental vehicles were to be turned in at the immediate conclusion of recruiting duties.”
Per the lawsuit:
“On the evening of the Championship Celebration, LeCroy told Ms. Bowles that she [LeCroy] had ‘permission’ to keep the SUV ‘until tomorrow’.”
“Numerous text messages from recruiting staff supervisors to LeCroy, Ms. Bowles and other staff members show the Association’s statement is false. Recruiting staff were regularly informed they could leave their personal vehicles overnight at the Butts-Mehre football facility and permissively use Association rental vehicles through a specified cut-off date and time, unrelated to their assigned recruiting activity duties.”
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Carter, meanwhile, is being sued for leaving the scene without rendering aid to his companions or speaking to the police. The suit claims another Bulldogs player shouted to Carter, telling him it would be in his best interest to leave the area, which he did less than 10 minutes after the fateful collision.
“As Defendant Carter was aware at the time, he was jointly responsible for the crash, and had a legal duty to remain on the scene. Instead, in part obviously fearful of bad publicity and the effect on his NFL draft status, he hoped not to be questioned or take any responsibility for his actions.”
Carter, who was selected as the ninth overall pick in this year’s draft, pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of reckless driving in March. He was sentenced to 12 months of probation, a fine of $1,000, and 80 hours of community service, while also ordered to attend a state-approved defensive driving course.
