According to the Kentucky Herald, the family of Umi Southworth has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Lexington. Southworth’s estate claims the city and Lexington police acted in a reckless, wanton and egregious manner by failing to realize that the victim was still alive for several hours while they conducted a homicide investigation.
Officials realized Southworth was still alive and rushed her to the University of Kentucky Hospital where she died the next day. Don Southworth, her husband, was charged with her murder earlier this month. The wrongful death lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for punitive damages, lost wages and loss of the power to earn money, as well as the loss of parental love, affection, companionship and consortium on behalf of Almira Fawn Southworth, Don Southworth’s daughter. An Orlando injury lawyer can answer your questions about wrongful death cases.
The estate’s attorney said Umi Southworth was included in the pain and suffering damages because it was possible she had some degree of consciousness through the ordeal. Police found the victim after investigating a report that she did not show up for work. She had been badly beaten with a piece of wood and left in the bushes behind an apartment complex. The police said the victim was so badly beaten that they believed she was dead, and proceeded to conduct a homicide investigation for five hours in the rain.