LARIMER COUNTY, Colo. — A jury on Tuesday awarded $65 million to a 14-year-old boy in his mother's 2022 death on northbound I-25.
According to Dulin McQuinn Young, LLP, the verdict followed a five-day trial against truck driver Darnell Yingling and his employer, Import Auto Inc., also known as Import Towing and Recovery.
Attorneys said Megan Arneson, 32, died Aug. 8, 2022, when an excavator hauled on Yingling's tractor-trailer struck an overpass, sending concrete through her windshield.
According to the law firm, Colorado State Patrol investigators determined the excavator was improperly loaded, causing its arm to exceed the bridge's clearance.
Attorneys said Arneson died at the scene and her then-10-year-old son was in the vehicle.
The lawsuit alleged Yingling and Import Auto failed to ensure the equipment was properly loaded and secured, and failed to train the driver and inspect the load.
Attorneys said the award is the largest jury verdict in Larimer County and the largest trucking-crash jury verdict in Colorado.