Hernandez Family Wins $1.25M Wrongful Death Settlement

Table of Contents
Case Background
Stephen Hernandez and Kristen Hernandez, as the heirs of the deceased Don Hernandez, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the County of Los Angeles, the State of California, and several local cities in May 2020. The Plaintiffs had initiated the legal action after Don Hernandez suffered a fatal bicycle crash on April 27, 2019. The lawsuit centered on the critical assertion that a dangerous condition of public property caused the tragedy. The Plaintiffs maintained that the governmental entities knew or should have known about the hazard but fundamentally failed to fix it, leading to the death of Mr. Hernandez. Legal proceedings quickly commenced in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, before the Honorable Thomas D. Long.
Cause
The Plaintiffs filed their original complaint on May 13, 2020, asserting that the accident happened when Don Hernandez struck a fixed object, specifically a parking block, that was dangerously placed in or near a path intended for bicyclists. The filing made clear that the responsible governmental entities had an enforceable, statutory duty to maintain public property in a condition that didn't create a substantial risk of injury to users. The Plaintiffs claimed the Defendants had breached this duty when they either created the dangerous placement of the parking block or failed to take reasonable steps to guard against or warn of the known hazard. The core of the complaint hinged on the assertion that this specific defect rendered the public property unreasonably dangerous for its intended use, directly resulting in the fatal crash.
Injury
The primary injury in this lawsuit was the wrongful death of Don Hernandez. Throughout the litigation, the Plaintiffs consistently maintained that they, his family, endured severe and lasting emotional distress and economic hardship because of his sudden, preventable death. The complaint detailed that the fatal injuries Don Hernandez sustained necessitated immediate and extensive e
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