Attorney gets more than half of Pinecrest settlement

BECKLEY - More than half of a $300,000 settlement awarded to the family of a man who was beaten to death at Pinecrest Hospital will be given to the family's attorney.

Charleston attorney Keith Jones will receive about $160,000, while the family of Buster Lee Webb will receive the rest.

Raleigh Circuit Judge Robert A. Burnside approved the settlement.

Webb was assaulted by a fellow Pinecrest patient six years ago and suffered a fractured hip. Four months later, on Nov. 26, 2000, Webb died of a blood clot.

His half-sister Carrie Stoots filed the lawsuit against the Beckley hospital and the state's Department of Health and Human Resources.

As administratrix of his estate, Stoots will receive approximately $15,000.

Webb was a quadriplegic and used a wheelchair. He jumped into a pool of shallow water 10 years before his death.