TAVARES, Florida—A lawsuit has been filed in the death of a pedestrian who was killed while walking with her boyfriend down State Road 19 in Umatilla in 2020.
Rebecca “Becky” Lynn Carpenter, 39, was walking northbound along the shoulder of State Road 19 on the south end of Umatilla near the Dollar General that had recently opened with her boyfriend, Russell “Rusty” Gibbons, when she was struck by a sedan, also traveling northbound around 8 p.m. May 30, 2020. The sedan was being driven by Frederick Martin Cole, of Eustis who was 29 and working for Domino’s, 1936 North State Road 19, Eustis at the time of the crash. Carpenter was pronounced dead on the scene; Gibbons was not hit, the Florida Highway Patrol said in 2020.
According to the lawsuit filed in Lake County Circuit Court against Cole and ASR Pizza Inc. dba Domino’s Pizza LLC on Monday, Cole was “negligent and careless in the operation of his motor vehicle as to collide with Rebecca Carpenter, a pedestrian. As a direct and proximate result of the negligence of the defendant Frederick Martin Cole, the decedent, Rebecca Carpenter suffered serious and permanent injuries which led to her death.”
The suit, filed on behalf of Carpenter’s minor daughter, states ASR Pizza Inc. dba Domino’s Pizza LLC is vicariously liable for Cole’s actions. The plaintiff, who is represented by George Anderson III of Dan Newlin Injury Attorneys, is seeking more than $30,000 in damages.
