ATLANTA — A jury in Georgia has ruled CSX must pay $3.9 million for their role in the death of a film.
Sarah Jones was killed on Feb. 20, 2014, after a CSX train struck her on a trestle near Doctortown. Jones was part of a crew filming a biopic about rocker Gregg Allman, who died in May.
Jones’ parents filed suit against CSX and others. A jury in Savannah this week awarded Jones’ parents a total of $11.2 million, including the $3.9 million from CSX, according to published reports.
The Jacksonville, Fla.-based railroad plans to sue. According to reports, CSX twice denied filmmakers permission to film on the bridge.
“CSX is deeply sympathetic to the terrible loss suffered by the family of Ms. Sarah Jones, but respectfully disagrees with the conclusions reached by the jury today,” The Associated Press quoted CSX spokesman Rob Doolittle as saying.
According to the AP report, the film crew stood along the tracks as a pair of CSX trains passed by the area within an hour of the fatal collision. But, the crews on those trains did not alert dispatchers about the trespassers.
