EAST ST. LOUIS – Esurance Insurance doesn’t have to honor a policy that Lajavion Ramsey of Belleville purchased after a fatal crash, U. S. District Judge David Dugan ruled on Jan. 4.
He adopted a recommendation of Magistrate Judge Reona Daly to grant default judgment against Ramsey and eight other persons.
Ramsey drove a 2014 Dodge Charger on Washington Avenue in St. Louis around 2:30 a.m. on Aug. 17, 2020.
He accelerated to 40 or 50 miles an hour.
A Silverado truck with a bed full of passengers pulled in front of him, and the collision threw the passengers into the avenue.
Sierra Ward-Micke of De Soto, Missouri, suffered fatal injuries.
Her parents Terri and Donald Arnett suffered injuries.
So did Alexis Hill of De Soto, Da-Mon Perkins and Nicholas Smith of St. Louis, Terrion Carter-Smith of Minnesota, Faith Stubblefield of St. Charles, and Silverado driver William Rankin of Bonne Terre, Missouri.
Ramsey purchased insurance online 14 hours later.
Esurance counsel Beth Boggs of Olivette, Missouri, filed a complaint for declaratory judgment in December 2020.
She claimed everyone in the crash sought coverage under Ramsey’s policy, and she denied that the policy covered anyone.
It took her a year and a half to serve all defendants.
No one answered the complaint and Boggs moved for default judgment last September.
Daly couldn’t resolve the motion because a magistrate judge can’t preside over a case until all parties consent.
She recommended default judgment in a report on Dec. 12 and gave defendants 14 days to object.
The court clerk assigned the report to Dugan, who adopted it after receiving no objections.