The families of four children and a teenage camp counselor who lost their lives after a vehicle plowed through an after-school program in southern Illinois allege that the tragic incident could have been prevented.
Details of the Incident
Marianne Akers, 44, drove her SUV into the YNOT Outdoors Summer and After School Camp in Chatham on April 28 last year. She had been traveling along a county highway when she veered off the road, traversed a cornfield, and crashed through a wall at the camp.
The crash claimed the lives of Kathryn Corley and Alma Buhnerkempe, both seven years old; Bradley James Lund and Ainsley Johnson, both eight; and 18-year-old Rylee Britton. At least six other children sustained severe injuries.
Legal Action
The families have now initiated a wrongful death lawsuit against Akers and YNOT executives James R Loftus and the Mitzi Loftus Trust. The lawsuit, filed in Sangamon County, alleges that Akers acted negligently by failing to stop her vehicle to avoid hitting the building.
Furthermore, the families accuse YNOT of violating state safety codes that prohibit permanent youth camps from being located within 100 feet of a highway. The camp also allegedly lacked adequate measures to prevent a vehicle from striking the building, leaving areas where children were routinely present and vulnerable to foreseeable harm.
The lawsuit additionally claims that YNOT failed to make proper structural changes and improvements to its building since its construction in 2012.
Statement from the Families' Attorney
Lance D Northcutt, the attorney representing the families, stated: 'No family should ever have to endure the unimaginable loss of a child. Kathryn, Alma, Bradley, Ainsley and Rylee had their whole lives ahead of them. Chatham is a tight-knit community and this tragedy has deeply affected countless families. These children were irreplaceable.'
The families are seeking accountability for this profound loss and meaningful safety improvements to prevent such a tragedy from ever recurring.
Background and Aftermath
The lawsuit comes nearly one year after the fatal crash, which did not result in any charges against Akers. Illinois State Police reported that she tested negative for drugs or alcohol and was not under the influence when she veered off the road a substantial distance away.
Akers's attorney, W Scott Hanken, previously stated that she suffered a seizure before the crash. 'It rendered her complete and utterly incapacitated at the time, and as a result of that seizure, she has no recollection of what occurred,' Hanken told local media last year.
Akers was a food service worker at Chatham Elementary School and is a mother of a teenage boy and girl. At the time of the crash, she was working for the Illinois Department of Transportation's Bureau of Business Services. She previously worked for the Illinois State Police from June 2006 to August 2018 but was not an officer.
