The family of Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Detective Justin Terry has reached a global settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit stemming from his death in June 2022, court records show. Judge Kathleen Delaney announced the resolution in court Monday, ending a 3½-year legal battle against Western States Contracting, Las Vegas Paving Corp. and D.H. Charles Engineering, Inc.
Terry, a 20-year department veteran, was 45 when he was killed while driving on U.S. Highway 95 near the Centennial Bowl project at the 215 Beltway interchange. He was following a Kenworth tractor-trailer hauling a backhoe loader when the equipment struck an overhead beam, causing it to fall and crush his vehicle. He died at the scene.
The lawsuit, filed in February 2023, alleged negligence by Western States Contracting and Las Vegas Paving regarding the oversized load and beam placement, as well as negligent hiring and training by Western States. Terms of Monday's settlement were not disclosed, though court documents filed in September showed D.H. Charles Engineering had agreed to pay more than $4.5 million from an insurance policy to Terry's family.
Delaney said she believes resolutions reached by the parties themselves are typically better than leaving the outcome to a jury. "I personally always believe that if the parties themselves can participate in and find a solution, it has to be, in most cases, I think, better than leaving it to those individuals, had we selected the 12 and the eight who would deliberate to try to figure that out and work that out," she said.
Sources: Las Vegas Review-Journal
Original reporting: Las Vegas Review-Journal →
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