Suit filed over 2016 double fatal crash into rural Eau Claire pond

Leader-Telegram (Eau Claire, WI)

May 17--The estates of a mother and daughter who died after a 2016 vehicle crash have filed a wrongful death suit against Huntsinger Farms and Silver Spring Foods, claiming negligence on their part was a substantial factor in the deaths.

The parents of Shania R. Felton and grandparents of Taylor A. Thompson, Bradley K. and Ann M. Felton of Mondovi, and Thompson's father, Jacob H. Thompson of Eau Claire, also are plaintiffs in the civil suit, which names American Family Mutual Insurance of Madison as an involuntary plaintiff and Nationwide Agribusiness Insurance Co. of Madison as a defendant.

On the afternoon of July 1, 2016, Shania Felton was driving a vehicle west on Highway 85 in the town of Brunswick when the vehicle crossed the centerline, passed through a ditch and entered a pond.

The crash, reported at 4:40 p.m. that day, occurred less than a mile southwest of the Highway 37 intersection near the Chippewa River State Trail.

The day of the crash, a motorist said a motorcycle operator went into the water in a rescue attempt, but the water was too deep, and he couldn't reach the car.

Following the incident, the Eau Claire County sheriff's office completed a reconstruction of the crash, and its cause was unable to be determined due to a multitude of factors, according to sheriff's officials.

According to the suit:

"As a result of entering the pond and as a result of the inability of access for rescue, both Felton and Thompson died. Neither Felton nor Thompson died instantaneously. Both survived for a period of time and during that time experienced predeath pain and suffering and damages."

The "defendants, (Huntsinger Farms and Silver Spring Foods), as the owner of an artificial pond abutting a public highway had a duty to use ordinary care to see that the pond and adjacent area are in reasonably safe condition and will not endanger the safety of persons using the highway or who deviate from it in the ordinary course of travel ..."

"Defendants had a duty to design and maintain the pond and adjacent area such that those that may enter from the highway could safely extricate themselves from the pond and that assistance or rescue would not be hampered."

The plaintiffs demand a jury trial and are asking for unspecified damages, along with costs and pre- and post-judgment interest.

Neither Huntsinger Farms, Silver Spring Foods nor Nationwide Agribusiness has answered the suit yet.

Contact: 715-830-5838, [email protected], @CTOBrien on Twitter

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