Settlement reached in triple fatality
Staff writer
The family of an 85-year-old Marion woman who died at the scene of a Nov. 25, 2022, triple fatality wreck northwest of Marion has reached a settlement with an insurance company that covered both cars involved in the wreck.
Randall Richmond, son of Wanda C. Richmond, sued both drivers. Charlotte Cole, 52, Moundridge, drove a 2003 Dodge Caravan that pulled out in front of a 2016 Ford Taurus in which Richmond was a passenger. Rebecca Young, Richmond’s granddaughter, drove the Taurus.
Cole also was pronounced dead at the scene. The third person to die from the accident was Cole’s passenger, Jessica Schmidt, of Fruitland, Idaho. She was taken by Hillsboro ambulance to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, where she later died.
Under the terms of a settlement approved March 21 in district court, State Farm Mutual will pay $200,000 — $100,000 for each of the two policies — for Richmond’s fatal injuries.
DeVaughn James, the Wichita law firm that represented the family, will get $70,438.79 of the settlement amount.
Wanda Richmond’s daughter-in-law, Ramona Richmond, Salina, also was a passenger in the Taurus. She was taken by ambulance to St. Luke Hospital and later airlifted to Wesley.
Young, of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, had minor injuries but was not taken to a hospital.
The Taurus was westbound on US-56 when the Dodge pulled away from a stop sign on K-256 into the path of the Taurus.
The impact drove both vehicles into a north ditch on US-56 and trapped at least two occupants in the wreckage.
Marion and Hillsboro fire departments and rescue squads extricated the victims.