The estate of a beloved Rock Hill baseball coach who died after a traffic collision in August with a tractor-trailer has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Illinois company that operated it, documents show.
Former Legion Collegiate Academy coach Jalen Benjamin died after the Aug. 10 crash on Interstate 20 in Kershaw County northeast of Columbia.
Benjamin, 29, was the school’s head baseball coach for one season after working as an assistant for three seasons beforehand. School officials said Benjamin connected well with athletes and was a respected and loved coach .
Benjamin family lawyer Joel Hamilton said Monday Benjamin had a great legacy in Rock Hill that ended far too soon. The lawsuit allows Benjamin’s family to get answers to what happened, Hamilton said.
“The family and the community lost someone who would have touched lives for years,” Hamilton said.
Lawsuit: Emotional anguish from Benjamin’s death
The pickup truck Benjamin drove Aug. 10 was legally stopped when it was rear-ended by the tractor-trailer, according to the lawsuit filed Oct. 8 in Kershaw County.
The lawsuit claims negligence against trucking company Alex Cargo Inc. and the driver of the truck. The family is seeking monetary damages for pain, suffering, medical expenses and other losses.
“Jalen Benjamin suffered and met an untimely death and his beneficiaries suffered and have endured grief, sorrow, shock, mental and emotional anguish and anxiety and the loss of decedent’s support, love, and companionship,” the lawsuit states.
A representative for Alex Cargo in Illinois told The Herald by telephone on Monday the company is not allowed to disclose any kind of information about the incident and declined comment.
Wrongful death is a civil claim
A wrongful death lawsuit is not a criminal charge. It’s a civil action where one side claims the other is responsible or negligent. If a claim has merit, a payout can come from a trials or settlement.
Generally, a wrongful death lawsuit seeks damages that include emotional pain and suffering caused by the person’s death, said Jim Boyd, a longtime Rock Hill attorney who is not involved in the case. Wrongful death actions are commonly filed by families in traffic fatalities, Boyd said.
In a wrongful death lawsuit, the plaintiff must prove certain things in order to recover compensation, according to a report from Forbes . Plaintiffs must prove a person or entity behaved negligently or committed an intentional wrongful act, their actions were the direct cause of a death, and there are damages associated with the death, Forbes reported.
Wrongful death suits can pay out millions of dollars.
Earlier this year, The Herald exclusively reported a Rock Hill family settled a baby’s York County civil court wrongful death lawsuit with a day care company for $16 million .
In 2017, Hamilton’s Rock Hill Schiller and Hamilton law firm engineered a $1.8 million settlement in a wrongful death case where a man, Odell Fields, died after a one-punch blow killed him outside a Rock Hill bar in 2014.
The Herald and Charlotte Observer reported the family of former NFL player Phillip Adams filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the league and S.C. State University that claimed Adams had brain injuries suffered while playing football. Adams killed six people before committing suicide outside Rock Hill in 2021. The NFL and the school have denied the Adams’ claims . That lawsuit remains pending.
What happens now?
The lawsuit has not yet been served, court records show. After the lawsuit is served defendants have weeks to file a written response with the court.
Both sides usually are ordered to go through court-ordered mediation, depositions and discovery as they seek information from each other, Boyd said.
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