Summary
- The Doherty family has filed a lawsuit in pursuit of justice two years after the death of 62-year-old Thomas Doherty, a retired Monroe County jail deputy, who was killed in a crash at the intersection of Route 441 and Canandaigua Road in the town of Walworth, New York.
- The crash occurred on January 2, 2024, when an 18-year-old driver from Victor, who was driving without a license, ran a stop sign and collided with Doherty’s vehicle, killing him and injuring his girlfriend, Kari Bittner, who was in the passenger seat.
- The young driver was issued traffic tickets by a town court judge, including failure to stop at a stop sign, failure to yield, and driving without a license, but no criminal charges could be filed under state law due to lack of evidence of intoxication or phone use at the time of the crash.
- The Doherty family is now pursuing a civil lawsuit against the owner of the vehicle and the defendant, seeking accountability and justice for Thomas Doherty’s death, with the family’s daughter, Bridget Turkington, stating that body-worn camera footage has raised suspicions about the circumstances of the crash.
- The family remains hopeful that the evidence from the camera footage will help lead to some form of accountability, with Doherty’s brother, John, expressing his belief that the system has shortchanged his brother and that justice will be served eventually.
- The family continues to keep Doherty’s memory close as they navigate the legal process, with no timeline available for the status of the civil lawsuit, but they remain determined to seek justice and closure for their loved one.