Editor’s note: this story has been modified to make clear that quotes made by defendants in the lawsuit were drawn from public court documents.
Only one man survived the Cape Coral boat crash that led to tragedy on a long Thanksgiving weekend last year. Now he and another family are awaiting mediation with the estate of the couple who owned and operated the boat that day.
Neal Kirby, 45, was lucky to survive the near-death experience. Rebecca Knight, 48, and married couple Craig Millett, 56, and Brenna Millett, 49, were not as lucky. All lived in Cape Coral.
It was a sunny day with clear blue skies and more than 50 boats took to the water, cruising from Fort Myers to Naples. That beautiful day went awry quickly when the Milletts’ catamaran — which can reach speeds of up to 130 mph — capsized and threw every passenger into Gulf waters.
Now, the sole survivor and Knight’s sisters are battling the families of the dead in court over who bears responsibility.
Knight and Brenna Millett died the night of the crash at a hospital after their rescue. Craig Millett was found 19 hours later, submerged near Redfish Point. He owned the boat.
The News-Press has asked the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission — which is investigating the crash — multiple times about the circumstances surrounding the boat crash, however, more than six months later, the FWC still has no answers.
But the two lawsuits fill in some of the blanks.
The survivor’s claims: Lawsuit reveals details in boating deaths
Just weeks after undergoing surgery, Neal Kirby filed a negligence lawsuit against the Milletts in which he is demanding damages of more than $50,000 in addition to a jury trial.
In his complaint, Kirby and his lawyers claim Craig Millett was operating the boat, which the FWC has not confirmed.
Second set of plaintiffs also suing boat owners in sister’s death
The sisters of the Rebecca Knight — Jessica Van Hart and Elizabeth Bergau — filed their own lawsuit against the Milletts weeks later, also claiming negligence and wrongful death. They, too, are asking for damages exceeding $50,000 and a jury trial.
That day, the Milletts, Knight and Kirby were participating in a turkey run, hosted by Fort Myers Offshore, a nonprofit corporation that raises academic scholarship funds for high school students. Kirby is a member of the group’s board of directors, according to the organization’s Facebook.
The turkey run is a social gathering opportunity for boaters in which said boaters register to drive down an established route with several designated stops along the Southwest Florida coastline.
According to the Fort Myers Offshore Facebook page, these were the stops/route in the turkey run on Nov. 29:
It was in the later afternoon when the boat “capsized at a high rate of speed, ejecting its occupants into the water,” according to Kirby’s complaint.
Kirby claims to suffer from permanent bodily injury, pain, disfigurement, lost earnings, and expenses related to treatment, among other items related to the crash, the suit claims
The complaint accuses Craig Millett of negligence, in that he was operating the boat “in an unsafe and unreasonable manner.”
Mothers of Millets, killed in crash, say they aren’t to blame
Paulette Millett, the mother of Craig Millett, was appointed to represent his estate in the lawsuit. Similarly, Brenna Millett’s mother, Beverly Laverriere, was appointed to represent her estate.
About one month after the second lawsuit was filed, Craig Millett’s mother requested that the court exonerate or limit her son’s liability in the crash. Her request argues that there was no negligence on Craig Millett’s part and that he properly equipped and supplied the boat with machinery and equipment that was in good condition.
She requested that Craig Millett be exonerated from “all fault and legal responsibility for said incident.”
Court documents filed on behalf of Brenna Millett’s mother, who is a defendant in the lawsuit as representative of Brenna Millett’s estate, responded to Kirby’s lawsuit by saying that it was the survivor’s “own acts of negligence” that caused any damages to him and that Kirby “did not exercise ordinary care, caution or prudence for his own welfare…thereby directly and proximately contributed to the happening of said alleged injuries.”
Her response further argues that Brenna Millett can/should not be sued because she “did not participate in the operation of the vessel” and further “denies that she is an owner of the vessel.”
Kirby denied those claims.
Opposing parties in deadly boat crash head to mediation
Now, more than six months later, all the battling parties have agreed to participate in a meeting with a mediator. The survivor and the representatives of the deceased will attempt to mediate, which is a form of dispute resolution that happens outside a courtroom, on Sept. 16.
In Florida, mediation can be voluntary or court-ordered. In the process of mediation, a neutral mediator listens to the concerns of each party and assists them in communicating in a way that allows civil disputes to be settled without having to take the dispute to court.
According to Florida Courts, mediation ends in one of three ways:
The crash remains under investigation by the FWC. The News-Press is awaiting a full report of the investigation.
Tayeba Hussein is a breaking news reporter for The News-Press & Naples Daily News. Reach her at thussein@usatodayco.com.
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This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Mediation planned in lawsuit over Cape Coral Thanksgiving boat crash
Reporting by Tayeba Hussein, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News / Fort Myers News-Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Tayeba Hussein, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News | USA TODAY Network
