North Carolina wrongful death: Pregnant mom and child die on a boat

A family day on the water in North Carolina turned tragic when two boats collided. A pregnant mother and her son both died as a result of the collision. Not only did the family lose a mother that day, but two children will never have a chance to grow up. The man that ripped through their lives on Memorial Day weekend is facing criminal charges and possibly a wrongful death claim.

The pregnant woman, her son, her husband, and her brother were all on a pontoon boat on High Rock Lake. The pontoon boat was slowly traveling on the Swearing Creek part of the lake, as was a powerboat. Investigators have determined that a powerboat was traveling at speeds over 25 miles per hour as it approached the pontoon boat.

The powerboat slammed into the pontoon boat. The woman’s 3-year-old son died as a result of injuries he sustained in the crash. The woman and her unborn child were thrown off of the boat. It took authorities nearly five hours later. It is not known whether anyone else was hurt in the collision.

The driver of the powerboat, a sergeant with the NCWRC, has been charged with three counts of involuntary manslaughter. The woman’s family misses her and her son every day. In addition to missing their loved ones, the family has most certainly incurred monetary losses as a result of the accident. Filing a wrongful death claim, as prescribed in North Carolina law, could help them recover those losses and obtain some justice for the family they lost.

Source: the-dispatch.com, “Event honors mother, child killed in a boating accident,” Darrick Ignasiak, July 30, 2013