Anton Yelchin’s Parents Officially Announce Lawsuit For ‘Wrongful Death’ Of Son And Beloved ‘Star Trek’ Star
After reports leaked that Anton Yelchin’s parents were considering a wrongful death lawsuit for the tragedy that took the life of their son, actor Anton Yelchin, Viktor and Irina officially announced their plans to sue auto manufacturer ZF North America and the AutoNation car retailer, as well as Fiat Chrysler.
As the Inquisitr stated, Fiat Chrysler is the company that makes the Jeep Grand Cherokee, which rolled down Yelchin’s driveway and pinned the actor against his security gate and a pillar.
The lawsuit was officially announced in Los Angeles as the papers were filed in the Superior Court in the early hours of Tuesday afternoon. According to E!, who obtained the court documents, Yelchin’s parents “requested a trial by jury.” E! points out that both parents were emotional as family lawyer Gary A. Dordick spoke on their behalf.
Parents of “Star Trek” actor Anton Yelchin, who was killed by his Jeep, file a lawsuit https://t.co/aIvYXLvxwA pic.twitter.com/NIFkrohFkN
— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) August 2, 2016
Anton Yelchin’s father and mother eventually spoke to reporters at the press conference. According to People magazine, Viktor said, “With unbelievable grief, we decided to come here to prevent other families with the same tragedy.”
Yelchin’s father continued to describe the enormous pain he feels from the tragedy.
“Anton was our only son – a remarkable human being. It’s against nature when a parent has to bury their own child.”
Although many in Hollywood praised his talents as an actor, for Yelchin’s parents, they were proud of the kind of human being that he was. His mother Irina Korina said, “We were always proud of him being the greatest human being – not for being a star. I just got a couple text messages from London and L.A. – his closest friends – saying, ‘I love you Mama, just be strong.’ ”
TMZ was the first outlet to report that Anton Yelchin’s parents were going to sue for wrongful death. At the time, a source said the parents were looking for “punitive damages for the wrongful death of their son due to significant defects.”
This isn’t the only lawsuit to hit Grand Cherokee. Auto Blog posted the shift malfunction that leads drivers to believe their cars are in park has led to multiple lawsuits since the defect was discovered. The actor’s parent’s lawsuit started a class action suit, which accuses FCA of hiding the problem despite specific models being recalled. So far, there are four plaintiffs in the class action suit.
“On top of restitution, the class action suit is demanding a court order force FCA to issue a do-not-drive warning to owners of affected vehicles until it fixes the problem.”
The initial recall report stated, “Drivers erroneously concluding that their vehicle’s transmission is in the PARK position may be struck by the vehicle and injured if they attempt to get out of the vehicle while the engine is running and the parking brake is not engaged.”
As reported, Yelchin’s autopsy revealed that the actor died within a minute after he was pinned by his car. It’s said his official cause of death was due to blunt force asphyxia, which occurred due to the Jeep Grand Cherokee crushing his lungs.
When the initial reports of the actor’s death surfaced, many wondered why he stepped outside of his car. Days after, the faulty shift in that particular model was revealed, and most came to the conclusion that the actor thought he had his car in park before it rolled down his driveway.
The Yelchin’s attorney confirmed the suspicion, telling reporters, “It appears that Anton went back to his house to retrieve something. He left his vehicle and was on his way out at the time, believing his vehicle was in park.”
[Photo by Carlo Allegri/AP Images]
