Father of Georgia football player Devin Willock seeks $2 million from UGA for fatal crash
Attorneys representing the father of Georgia football offensive lineman Devin Willock, who was killed in an early morning crash after a national championship celebration, notified the university he will be seeking $2 million in a civil lawsuit.
In a legal notice sent April 11 to the Georgia Board of Regents obtained by the Athens Banner-Herald Tuesday afternoon, the UGA Athletic Association is accused by Dave Willock of instructing recruiting staffer Chandler LeCroy to drive the Ford Expedition she was driving at the time that it crashed, killing her and Devin Willock who was a passenger in the vehicle.
Police said LeCroy was driving with a blood alcohol level twice the legal limit and going up to 104 miles per hour on Barnett Shoals Road when the UGA-rented vehicle crashed at about 2:45 a.m. on Jan. 15 while racing with defensive tackle Jalen Carter after leaving downtown.
UGA athletics has said LeCroy was not permitted to drive the vehicle at that time because she was off duty, but UGA athletics is accused of telling LeCroy prior to the weekend, “she and other recruiting analysts’ sole purpose that weekend would be providing transportation to recruits and players for celebration and recruiting activities, until the evening of Jan. 15 or Jan. 16.”
Messages including via text and email will show that, according to the notice. It also contends that LeCroy and other recruiting staffers were asked and agreed to attend celebrations at several sites in Athens before they agreed to meet players and recruits at Toppers strip club. LeCroy and other attendees consumed alcohol supplied by UGA athletic caterers to attendees at celebration sites, according to the notice.
It said the university also knew of LeCroy’s history of excessive speeding yet, “LeCroy continued to be entrusted with vehicles to carry out the purposes of UGA and the UGAA,” and it, “negligently entrusted a vehicle to LeCroy.”
The University of Georgia called the claims laid out in the ante litem, “full of inaccuracies,” and said the “university disputes them in the strongest terms.”
It said lead attorney Terry Jackson, “has not provided the university with any sources or evidentiary bases to support these reckless claims. As we have made clear, personal use of vehicles rented for recruiting activities was strictly prohibited. Ms. LeCroy was not engaged in athletic department duties around the time of the accident, and her personal use of the car after her recruiting duties ended earlier that evening was therefore unauthorized.”
The University System of Georgia said in a statement Tuesday evening: “The University System of Georgia has received the ante litem notice and declines comment on pending litigation.”
Dave Willock is seeking the maximum allowed by the Georgia Tort Claims Act for claims against the Board of Regents.
Georgia recruiting staffer Tory Bowles and offensive lineman Warren McClendon were also passengers but survived the crash with injuries.
The ante litem notice is required before filing a lawsuit against a government entity.
.UGA has 90 days to respond, according to William Stiles, an attorney also representing Dave Willock.
“It’s real plain and simple,” Stiles said. “There was negligence and there was fault of causing the death of his son.”
The UGA Athletic Association and LeCroy will be sued separately, according to the notice.
Attorney’s fees and costs will also be sought along with funeral, burial, medical expenses and “pain and suffering arising out of his injuries in the collision before death.”
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Devin Willock's father seeks $2 million from UGA for fatal car crash
