CONYERS, Ga. — A family finally settled a lawsuit with the Georgia Department of Transportation after a mother of five was killed in a crash in 2019.
Casey Cole was driving down Route 138 near Conyers when another car went off the road, hitting a sharp drop off on the shoulder. They over-corrected and crossed the double lines, ultimately hitting Casey Cole head-on, according to a crash report.
Cole died in the crash and her family said it was GDOT's negligence in not fixing the drop-off that led to her death.
"When it comes to drop-offs, 1 to 2 inches is acceptable," Josh Branch, one of the family's attornies said. "And we were dealing with 7, 8, 9 inches."
Chris Cole, who's now caring for all five children, said he spent the first few months after her death in shock.
He said telling their five daughters about Casey's death was the most challenging part - especially their baby.
"Kendall is 9 now, she was 6 - and that's pretty much all you could think about," he said.
He said it's been difficult for them since Casey was killed three years ago this month.
"How do you deal with it? You're going to be the only parent," he said. "There's been a lot of sacrifices; there's been a lot of changes in my life since the accident."
His grieving process also took a turn when he hired attorneys to investigate what happened - and was stunned at what they found.
"We discovered the low shoulder had been there for 3 to 4 months," Cole's attorney Michael Ruppersburg said.
Ruppersburg said his legal team found a witness who complained to GDOT the day before the deadly crash -- and he started building Cole's case.
"We found work orders that showed GDOT had worked in that stretch 12 times in the months before the wreck," he said.
Their attorneys said the sharp drop on the side of Route 138 was well documented and he said it should have been fixed immediately.
"Never should have happened; completely and totally preventable," Ruppersburg said about the crash.
His legal partner added though GDOT tried to address the issue, failing to do so properly had a grave outcome that can never be remedied.
"There was no maliciousness; it was an oversight on their part. But that carelessness resulted in the death of Casey Cole," Branch said.
The lawyers with the family said GDOT settled with the family at the maximum amount available under Georgia law - but he says it doesn't seem like enough with Casey Cole gone.
Chris Cole wants this case to drive home how critical it is to fix dangerous road issues as soon as they're reported. People can report issues through GDOT's contact us form here.
11Alive reached out to GDOT for comment on the lawsuit. The agency said it does not comment on litigation.