Lauren and Matt Kirchgessner are the parents of two children who were tragically killed in 2020 when a driver careened off a road. The fatal incident took place on a mini-golf course in Panama City Beach, Florida.
The parents have filed a lawsuit after the motorist was not held accountable for their son’s and daughter’s deaths. Morgan & Morgan, the law firm representing the Kirchgessners, submitted the complaint on February 7th in Bay County, Florida.
The attorneys argue that the family physician for the driver, Scott Donaldson, along with the bar Donaldson owns were negligent. According to the suit, Donaldson’s seizures, believed to be caused by his alleged struggles with alcoholism and withdrawal, could have been avoided and thus never caused the fatal crash in the first place.
The attorneys are claiming that Donaldson’s family physician, as well as the bar he owns, are both responsible for the crash. Jack T. Cook and Clay Townsend, attorneys from Morgan & Morgan, released a press statement in relation to the accident.
The statement says that two children, Addie Kirchgessner, 6, and Baylor Kirchgessner, 4, were on vacation from their home in Louisville, Kentucky, at the Coconut Creek Family Fun Park when the tragic accident occurred.
Donaldson was driving a Chevy Silverado when he suddenly veered off the road, plowing through a fence and into the park. Tragically, Addie and Baylor were struck and killed by the vehicle while their parents looked on in horror.
State Attorney Larry Basford concluded his long-running investigation into Donaldson in January 2022, determining that the fatal crash was a result of an epileptic seizure and not from alcohol in his system. Because of this, he concluded that there was no criminal intent.
However, the Kirchgessner family has alleged that Donaldson had five prior accidents due to alcohol-induced seizures. During a press conference on February 8th, the family made their plea for something to be done to prevent such a tragedy from happening again.
The Kirchgessner family is now seeking a minimum of $50,000 in damages in light of the incident.