GALLATIN, Tenn. -
A Gallatin mother has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Sumner County Board of Education claiming the school system is partly responsible for the death of her nine-year-old daughter.
Alexis Thompson, a third grade student at Benny Bills Elementary School in Gallatin, was killed in a crash in March after leaving an afterschool program with her intoxicated stepfather, Dusty McDonald.
The lawsuit, filed last Friday in Sumner County Circuit Court by Alexis' mother Christina McDonald, claims school officials at Benny Bills were negligent by allowing a student to leave with an intoxicated step-parent who furthermore was not on the approved transportation list.
In addition, the suit alleges the leader of the Unity program, one of two afterschool programs in Sumner County offering homework assistance and academic enrichment, smelled alcohol on Dusty McDonald but rather than call the girl's mother or police, let her leave.
According to authorities, Dusty McDonald had been drinking all day when he picked up his stepdaughter and on the way home, crashed his pickup truck into a tree alongside Whitson Road near Bethpage.
He fled the scene on foot, leaving Alexis trapped in the vehicle seriously injured, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol accident report.
She later died at a local hospital.
Goodlettsville attorney Tim Bowden is representing Christina McDonald in the case.
Bowden said his client is struggling day to day with the loss of her daughter but said she holds no animosity toward the school or teachers involved.
"There are certain policies in place and if they are implemented properly, tragedies like this probably won't happen," he told Nashville's News 2.
Bowden said McDonald filed the lawsuit in an attempt to prevent the tragedy from happening to another family.
"If you know that a parent is drinking, enough said, no you don't get to pick up your child. You don't come here drinking. That's my position on it and that's her position on it.
Christina McDonald, as administrator of Thompson's estate, be awarded a "just, fair, and equitable amount in compensatory damages."
The Sumner County Board of Education has 30 days to file a response to the allegations.
In September, Dusty McDonald pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide, among other charges, and was sentenced to 22 years in prison.
Authorities said he had five convictions for driving under the influence prior to the fatal crash.
Dusty McDonald pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide, among other charges, in September and was sentenced to 22 years in prison.
