Judge Awards Millions In Suit Against St. Robert Estate And Eldon Company

The family of 28-year-old Zachary Patchin, from the Saint Louis area, was awarded nearly 6 million dollars in a wrongful death lawsuit in Osage County. In January of this year, Patchin of Barnhart, Missouri was killed in a crash with a box truck on Highway 50 near Linn. The Missouri State Highway Patrol says the truck driver, 22-year-old Kale Durr, of St. Robert, improperly switched lanes to pass a semi and collided head-on with Patchin’s pick-up truck. The box truck ran off the road, and Patchin’s pickup caught fire. Durr was also killed in the crash. Patchin’s parents and the mother of his child, born after his death, filed a lawsuit against the owners of the box truck, the Ice Cream Factory, which is based in Eldon. The suit also named the person who represented Durr’s estate. The lawsuit alleged that the Ice Cream Factory failed to ensure Durr had the proper license to operate the box truck. Judge Ryan Helfrich awarded the Patchin family nearly $6 million in damages. Almost $2 million will go to the mother of Patchin’s infant child; it will be put into a fund that will start distributing payments to the child once she turns 18. Patchin’s mother and father will each receive around $1 million. The rest will cover attorneys’ fees. The case was heard in Franklin County on a change of venue at the request of the Patchin family.