The family of 20-year-old Nathaniel Stratton, who was killed in a car crash on Sept. 18, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the woman accused of the hit-and-run.
A complaint for damages suffered by the Estate of Nathaniel Stratton was filed Nov. 1 in Monroe County, with Brad and Elizabeth Stratton, parents of the victim, named as plaintiffs.
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The document notes that the estate of Nathaniel Stratton “has incurred medical and hospital, funeral and burial, and other special expenses” due to Howard’s negligence.
Stratton, an Indiana University student, was riding an electric scooter when he was struck by a car driven by 22-year-old Madelyn Howard of Crown Point. Howard was also an IU student.
Officers responded to a call at the intersection of Walnut and 12th Street in Bloomington that a vehicle had struck Stratton and fled the scene at a high rate of speed, according to a Bloomington Police Department news release.
After traveling at “an excessive and unsafe rate of speed” and hitting Stratton, the complaint notes Howard fled the scene, “dragging the scooter underneath her vehicle instead of staying to render aid and/or call for medical assistance,” the lawsuit claims. Since Stratton "later died as a direct and proximate result of the injuries” sustained, the estate requests compensatory damages.
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After the accident, Howard was transported to the Monroe County Jail and charged with Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated Resulting in Death, a level 4 felony, and Leaving the Scene of an Accident Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury or Death While Intoxicated, a level 3 felony, as of Sept. 18.
