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Judge dismisses claim against parents of Chalk Hill teen killed in 2011 car crash

By Susy Kelly skelly@heraldstandard.Com 3 min read

A Fayette County judge ruled on Thursday that the parents of a Chalk Hill teen who was killed in an alcohol-related car accident cannot be held liable for their son’s death, despite claims by attorneys that they failed to curb the teen’s alcohol use.

Zackery Nelson was 17 years old on Sept. 10, 2011, when a car in which he was a passenger left a road on the premises of Nemacolin Woodlands Resort and Spa in Farmington, struck a tree and ejected the teen through the windshield. He died days later as a result of his injuries.

Nelson’s parents, Daniel and Tricia Nelson, filed a civil lawsuit against the resort, its owner and founder Joe Hardy, his daughter Paige Hardy, and the driver of the car, Steven DiCenzo, whose blood-alcohol content was .136 percent at the time of the crash, which is over the legal limit, according to police reports.

The wrongful death suit filed in October 2012 alleges that Paige Hardy, then 15 years old, furnished the alcohol to DiCenzo and Zackery Nelson and that she got it from her father’s liquor cabinet, which he knew or should have known about.

The Hardys were subsequently dismissed from the suit, and, in November, the attorneys for the resort filed a cross-claim against Daniel and Tricia Nelson, alleging they knew their son went to social gatherings and consumed alcohol but failed to restrict his access to alcohol and unsupervised parties.

However, President Judge John F. Wagner Jr. explained, “The actions and/or failure to act by (Daniel and Tricia Nelson) relative to their minor son’s alcoholic beverage consumption were not the proximate cause of his injuries.”

“The fatal injuries to (Zackery Nelson) were the result of a vehicle accident, not (his) alleged consumption of alcohol or lack of supervision on the part of his parents,” Wagner wrote. “His attendance at the party without adult supervision did not cause his death, nor did the alleged failure of his parents to take away his driving privileges.”

“The alleged negligence of (Daniel and Tricia Nelson) as pleaded in the cross-claim did not proximately cause the fatal injury to (Zackery Nelson), nor did it injure anyone else,” he went on, “most certainly not (Nemacolin Woodlands).”

Wagner noted that at the time of his death, Zackery Nelson was a high school senior who was gainfully employed. His parents had not entrusted him with a vehicle of their own on the night of the accident, so he got a ride at the end of his shift and was transported to the Hardy residence, the judge wrote. Daniel and Tricia Nelson were not present there, nor did they know their son was there drinking, Wagner found.

“The court has concluded that, as a matter of law, the decedent’s parents . . . acted reasonably on the evening of the accident and thus were not negligent in regard to their minor son’s consumption of alcohol in the Hardy residence at that time,” wrote Wagner.

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