Parents of Pasco girl killed in wreck sue county

PASCO -- The parents of a 10-year-old girl killed in a 2008 car crash want Franklin County to pay for failing to make improvements at a hazardous intersection.

A lawsuit filed Tuesday in Franklin County Superior Court blames the speeding motorcyclist who blew a stop sign and county officials for the death of Nicole Lynn Woodbury.

The Pasco girl was in the back seat of her father's 1986 Jaguar when Allen Joshua "A.J." Cockrum's motorcycle crashed into the car's back door.

Though Cockrum, 19, was drunk when he ran a stop sign at Selph Landing Road, the crash might have been avoided had the two vehicles been able to see each other as they approached the Taylor Flats Road intersection, the lawsuit contends.

Kennewick lawyer Diehl Rettig, who represents parents Sharon and Jeff Woodbury, also believes county road crews missed many opportunities to install such safety devices as flashing lights to alert motorists to the upcoming stop sign.

"This is at an intersection where the county has known for many years that the mound of dirt or earth blocks the view of northbound traffic" on Taylor Flats, Rettig told the Herald. "... The county has completely neglected ... to eliminate that traffic hazard."

Rettig said that by law he couldn't specify an amount in the suit, but a claim filed Sept. 3 with Franklin County asked for $11.5 million. County officials didn't respond to the claim within the required 60 days, which Rettig said is not unusual.

The Woodburys "are not doing well" since the death of their only child -- a "perfect young lady," Rettig said.

"The grief that her mother and father are suffering today is just so profound," he added.

Jeff Woodbury was driving the Jaguar when the crash occurred at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 2, 2008, about three miles north of Pasco.

Nicole Woodbury and Cockrum both died. Jeff Woodbury, then 50, was hospitalized with extensive injuries, including a punctured lung.

Cockrum did not have a motorcycle endorsement, was under the legal drinking age and had a blood-alcohol level of 0.16 percent -- two times the legal limit for adults -- according to the Washington State Patrol.

The complaint states that the collision was a result of Cockrum's negligence but also blames Franklin County for failing "to remedy the inherently dangerous condition of the intersection, identified ... as early as 1972."

The county twice got permission to reslope ground close to the intersection but didn't do the improvements, Rettig said.

Motorists driving west on Selph Landing aren't visible to drivers on Taylor Flats, and vice versa, because Taylor Flats curves and the corners of the adjacent fields are raised.

"A day's worth of earth moving would have corrected that problem," Rettig said.

Several serious accidents have occurred there.

Attorney Ken Miller, who reportedly is representing the county, could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.

A creditor's claim for payment of damages was served Feb. 18 on attorney Pat Roach as personal representative of Cockrum's estate. It was rejected Feb. 22, according to the lawsuit. Roach was traveling Tuesday and could not be reached for comment.

The lawsuit asks that the county and Cockrum's estate be found liable for Jeff and Sharon Woodbury's loss of the parent/child relationship, economic loss to Nicole's estate, her funeral and burial expenses, Jeff and Sharon Woodbury's medical expenses and his "pain, suffering, disability, disfigurement, permanent loss and impairment of his hand, arm and shoulder," the couple's damages from "severe and profound mental suffering resulting from the loss of their ... daughter."

The suit also seeks damages for Jeff Woodbury's loss of earning capacity and for damages to his car.

-- Kristin M. Kraemer: 509-582-1531; kkraemer@tricityherald.com