CHARLESTON – A highway construction company has been sued in three lawsuits for a fatal Logan County accident.
Gregory Key, as the stepparent of minor K.H., filed his lawsuit in Kanawha Circuit Court against IPI Inc. as did Ronnie Dean Daniels Jr., as executor of the estate of Delores Jean Daniels. Tanner Perry Mangus and Russell Todd Mangus also filed a lawsuit against the company in Kanawha Circuit Court.
According to the complaints, IPI was doing bridge expansion joint cleaning in Logan County on W.Va. 10 on December 12, 2022. That included placing barricades and cones in such a way that it appeared southbound lanes of traffic were completely closed off for public traffic due, according to the complaints.
K.H. was a passenger in a northbound vehicle when another southbound vehicle made a lefthand turn but turned incorrectly into the northbound lanes and collided head-on with the vehicle in which K.H. was riding. Daniels was a passenger in the soundbound vehicle.
Daniels died as a result of her injuries, and K.H. suffered severe and permanent injuries, according to the complaint.
Tanner Mangus was driving northbound and was hit head-on by the soundbound vehicle as well. He suffered severe and permanent injuries and disfigurement, according to the complaint.
All of the complaints say IPI failed to provide a proper and safe advance warning area, transition area, taper and buffer space to inform traffic of the work zone. The plaintiffs accuse IPI of negligence.
The plaintiffs seek compensatory damages, punitive damages, pre- and post-judgment interests and other relief.
Key and K.H. are being represented by Ben Salango and Christian Huffman of Salango Law in Charletson. The Daniels estate is being represented by Brett J. Preston, Dan Snuffer and Barbara Samples of WVLawyer PLLC in Charleston. The Manguses are being represented by R. Edison Hill of Hill Peterson Carper Bee & Deitzler in Charleston.
Kanawha Circuit Court case numbers 23-C-710 (Key), 23-C-715 (Samples) and 23-C-791 (Mangus)