The children of a Missouri man killed in a head-on collision have reached a roughly $2 million settlement with the Mission Hills man authorities say caused the wrong-way crash outside Lee’s Summit, Missouri, earlier this year.
On Dec. 6, Aaron Wilson filed a wrongful death civil lawsuit in Johnson County, Missouri, in connection to the death earlier this year of his father, Kevin Wilson.
Court records show Aaron Wilson has reached an agreement with Peter E. Goss, a Mission Hills man who Missouri State Highway Patrol investigators say caused the crash.
According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, on Friday, Sept. 20, Goss, was driving the wrong way on U.S. Highway 50 near Highway Z, when his Chevrolet Suburban struck a Subaru Legacy driven by Kevin Wilson, 65, of Lee’s Summit, Missouri.
Goss suffered serious injuries and was taken to Research Medical Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, according to the Highway Patrol’s online crash report at the time.
Nearly three months after the incident, Goss has yet to be charged with any crimes, according to Missouri court records.
The two sides reached an agreement
Under the agreement, Goss’s insurer will pay about $2.3 million, which represents the applicable per person bodily injury insurance policy limits, in exchange for the settlement and release of Wilson’s children’s claims against Goss for causing Kevin Wilson’s death.
The settlement money, if approved, would be paid to Aaron and Olivia Wilson, Kevin Wilson’s children.
According to the settlement, Aaron and Olivia Wilson would each get $843,750. Another $562,500 would be used to pay attorneys’ fees.
A settlement hearing is scheduled in district court in Johnson County, Missouri, at 9:30 a.m. on Jan. 6.
When reached by the Post, Pamela W. Brown, Goss’s attorney, declined to comment on the case.
An attorney representing Aaron Wilson could not be reached for comment.
Goss was arrested after the crash
In September, a Missouri State Highway Patrol arrest report stated that Goss was placed under arrest just before 2 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 21., on suspicion of driving while intoxicated involving the death of another person.
He was also held on suspicion of driving in the wrong direction of a divided highway, as well as careless and imprudent driving involving an accident, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol report.
No other details about Goss’s arrest were available in the online arrest record.
Goss was later released from custody to receive medical care at Research Medical Center.
Goss has filed suit over license being revoked
In October, Goss filed his own civil lawsuit against the Missouri Director of Revenue over the revocation of his driver’s license for one year.
In that civil suit, Goss argues among other things that he was improperly arrested and that the arresting highway patrol officer did not have reasonable grounds to believe that Goss was driving while intoxicated.
Goss’s suit also contends that Goss was uninformed that his license would be immediately revoked for one year upon his refusal to submit to a test following the crash and he was uninformed that evidence of his refusal would be admissible against him in a court of law.
A crash in which a driver is intoxicated that leads to the death of another person is a felony in Missouri and can carry a prison sentence of up to 15 years.
Goss’s civil case is scheduled for a hearing in Johnson County District Court in Missouri on Feb. 5.
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