Another party has been named as potentially liable for the death of Miriam Trotter.
The Coral Gables-based Haggard Law Firm filed an amended complaint May 3 against Bradenton-resident Michael Ritchie and Sarasota-based C-Squared CGC on behalf of the plaintiff, Deborah Trotter.
The new complaint also names a new defendant: Bradenton-based Anna Maria Landscaping & Home Services LLC, which Ritchie owns and operates.
Ritchie was driving a truck that crashed May 12, 2023, into Deborah Trotter and her mother, Miriam, in a crosswalk at the intersection of Gulf and Marina drives in Holmes Beach.
Miriam Trotter, 86, never regained consciousness, having suffered irreversible brain damage, and died May 17, 2023.
Deborah Trotter was treated and discharged from the hospital the day of the crash, suffering partial hearing loss, tinnitus and a permanent soft spot on her skull from the impact.
The Trotters had received indication from a pedestrian crossing signal to cross the street at the intersection and Ritchie had a green light.
Ritchie did not receive criminal charges for the crash and was instead issued a citation for failure to yield the right of way to pedestrians, which he contested in court.
He was found guilty last August and was ordered to pay $166 for the citation and $21 in subpoena costs, as well as complete a four-hour basic driver improvement course.
Trotter filed a wrongful death lawsuit in the 12th Circuit Court last December alleging Ritchie and C-Squared’s negligence played a role in her mother’s death.
The lawsuit claims two counts of negligence:
- One against Ritchie for failing to yield the right of way to pedestrians in an active crosswalk, driving recklessly and failing to brake or reduce speed prior to his truck’s impact with the Trotters;
- One against C-Squared for failing to coordinate the new traffic lights with crosswalk signals at the intersection following work on Holmes Beach’s city center improvements last year.
The lawsuit also calls for the court to award Trotter $50,000 in damages.
Trotter’s amended lawsuit contains the same claims but adds a third count to allege Anna Maria Landscaping & Home Services was vicariously liable for her mother’s wrongful death since it “had the duty to operate, maintain, and/or control” the vehicle that struck her.
The company was sent a court summons to respond to Trotter’s claims on May 7.
By May 24, Ritchie and Anna Maria Landscaping filed affirmative defenses to the amended complaint arguing that the crash was caused by the negligence of Trotter and C-Squared.
One of the affirmative defenses argues, “The damages allegedly sustained by plaintiff were caused or greatly exacerbated by the failure of plaintiff to mitigate her damages.”
On June 6, C-Squared filed its defenses to Trotter’s amended complaint and alleged it was the plaintiff’s negligence that led to the crash.
C-Squared claimed any injuries or losses were the “proximate results of negligence and/or wrongdoing by persons, entities, or forces not within defendant’s supervision, control, or responsibility,” so the company cannot be liable.
All four parties demanded a jury trial.
There were no upcoming hearings for the case as of June 21, according to the Manatee County Clerk of Circuit Court’s website, manateeclerk.com.