NEWS

Venus Williams settles lawsuit in crash that killed elderly man

Jorge Milian
jmilian@pbpost.com
Palm Beach Gardens resident Venus Williams has reached a settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit with the family of a man killed in a car crash last year, court documents show. [RICHARD GRAULICH/palmbeachpost.com]

Tennis star and Palm Beach Gardens resident Venus Williams has reached a settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit with the family of a man killed in a car crash last year, court documents show.

Terms of the agreement between the estate of Jerome Barson, who died following the crash on June 9, 2017, and Williams were not revealed in the documents. The only reference to money in the agreement states that both parties will be responsible for their own attorney fees.

Calls to Williams' attorneys on Tuesday night were not immediately returned. The case was dismissed by Judge James Nutt on Nov. 15.

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According to a police report, Williams collided with a Hyundai Accent driven by Linda Barson, Jerome's wife, at an intersection near her home at BallenIsles Country Club off Northlake Boulevard. Jerome Barson, 78, was a passenger in the car and died weeks later from complications of blunt traumatic injuries.

Additionally, Linda Barson suffered broken bones. Williams was not cited in the crash, but Barson’s family filed a civil lawsuit against her.

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Surveillance-camera video showed that Williams attempted to travel north on BallenIsles Drive and was stopped in the intersection because a southbound Nissan Altima leaving BallenIsles turned left onto eastbound Northlake Boulevard in front of her, violating Williams’s right of way. Williams stopped to avoid the crash, according to police. The investigative report identified the driver as Lauren Elizabeth Dowd-Shedlock.

As Williams finished going through the intersection, Barson’s traffic light turned green and she headed westbound on Northlake, crashing into the passenger side of Williams’s vehicle. The police report states Williams was driving 5 mph at the time of the crash.

The initial police report stated Williams violated Barson’s right of way and police body-camera footage shows an officer saying the crash was Williams' fault — but then told her, “You just got stuck in a bad situation there.”