HAMPTON COUNTY, SC (WSAV) – Attorneys connected to the plaintiffs in a series of lawsuits against Parker’s and Alex Murdaugh have told NewsNation affiliate WSAV a settlement has been reached in the civil case.
This means all the civil cases involving the boat passengers and the family of Mallory Beach will be dropped.
This comes after multiple hours of meetings were held Sunday between lawyers for all parties suing the convenience store chain to talk about a possible settlement.
That meeting comes just two days after Judge Daniel Hall ruled against Parker’s motions to move the civil trial from Hampton County and separate their case from Alex Murdaugh.
The settlement will give the bulk of the money, about $15 million, to the family of Mallory Beach. The teenager was killed the night of February 24, 2019, when the boat she and five others were riding in hit a piling in Archer’s Creek, and threw her into the water. Her body was not found for seven days.
In addition to the Beach family, the others involved in the settlement include Connor Cook, Miley Altman, Morgan Doughty and Anthony Cook. All of those were teenage passengers on the boat that night.
The driver of the boat was Paul Murdaugh. The underage boy was caught on camera buying alcohol from a Parker’s store in Beaufort earlier that day. He was using his older brother Buster’s ID.
The clerk did look at the ID and ran it through their system verifying that It was a valid ID but did not make sure that the person handing her the driver’s license matched the height, weight, or face of the person buying the alcohol.
Beach family attorney Mark Tinsley issued a statement to WSAV:
“We are pleased we were able to get some resolution on this case and keep the Beach family from having to go through the pain and suffering of a trial and hear testimony, and have to relive their daughters’ death. We are happy the settlement agreement is not confidential as well so that the public sees that you will be held responsible no matter who you are or how much money you have.”
Parker’s attorney PK Shere gave this statement about the settlement:
“It is disappointing that the contents of settlement discussions have been disclosed today counter to the mediation agreement that was signed by all who participated.
Recently, the court ruled that Parker’s would be tethered to Alex Murdaugh at the upcoming trial. The fact remains that Tajeeha Cohen made a legal and valid sale, as was determined by SLED. This case was never about that legal and valid sale nor was it about the repeated bad decisions that these young adults made that night. For Mark Tinsley, it was all about using the Murdaughs’ bad actions and the unfair law of joint and several liability in South Carolina to make Parker’s pay for a verdict intended to punish the Murdaughs. Given the outsized publicity this case has received, being tethered to a convicted murderer all but ensured Parker’s would not receive a fair trial.
The application of the joint and several liability law in South Carolina meant that, if Parker’s was found even 1% at fault, it would have paid for the entirety of any verdict rendered against the Murdaugh family. The unfairness of that caused Parker’s insurance carriers to resolve these suits to avoid paying the likely award intended to punish Alex Murdaugh.
This marks the conclusion of all the boat crash cases. We sincerely hope that all involved parties will find some measure of closure.”
Mark Tinsley says this agreement does not stop the civil conspiracy case he has filed against Parker’s for the Beach family.
That civil suit alleges that Parker’s teamed with attorneys and documentarian Vicky Ward to launch “a social media campaign to inflict severe emotional distress upon the Plaintiffs to diminish their resolve to prosecute Parker’s for contributing to causing the death of Mallory Beach in the Civil Action and arranged for or participated in the distribution of the confidential mediation and other private materials… “
The civil trial involving the Beach family and Parker’s was supposed to start Aug. 14 in Hampton County court.