North Carolina Jury Awards $18 million to Estate of Bus Crash Victim

A jury has awarded $18 million to the estate of a Chapel Hill, N.C., man killed in a charter bus crash almost two years ago.

WRAL in Raleigh reports the wrongful death lawsuit sought $52 million, but lawyers for Horizon Coach Lines told the jury in closing arguments on Thursday that they shouldn’t have to pay more than $1 million.

The lawsuit contended that driver Larry Brocks lost control of the bus while reaching for water.

The bus was on its way to Hampton University’s Open House Day in Virginia on April 5, 2013, when it overturned. Doval Emmanuel Watson, a 58-year-old Hampton alumnus, died from injuries suffered in the wreck.

Watson’s and his wife, Theresa Watson, were chaperones on the trip. She suffered serious injuries in the crash.