Green Lawn settles bus accident lawsuits

Two lawsuits brought against the Green Lawn Church of Christ in Lubbock, Texas, following a church bus accident in 1999 were settled in late May through mediation, said Lisa A. Chavez, attorney with the law firm which represented the church. A confidentiality agreement was accepted by all parties, Chavez said.
Six teenage girls returning from camp in a Green Lawn bus in the summer of 1999 were killed near Artesia, N.M., when the bus was struck by a ‘fifth wheel’ trailer being towed in the opposite direction.
In the first suit which was settled, Anthony and Suzanne Bauman, whose daughter Heather, 13, was killed, had brought suit for personal injury and wrongful death against Green Lawn, its youth minister David Fraze, who was driving the bus, and Lawrence Mathews, driver of the truck towing the ‘fifth wheel’ trailer. The Baumans are not Green Lawn members.

In the second suit which was settled, the family of William D. Libby, killed in a car which struck the bus from the rear after the initial collision, had brought suit for personal injury and wrongful death against Green Lawn, Fraze and Mathews.

A suit against Mathews only, brought by Green Lawn members Keith and Lori Johnson, whose daughter Sarah, 14, was killed, has also been settled, Chavez said.

Jack Cummings, Green Lawn elder, said, ‘Through this whole ordeal our main concern was for the families. We were always more concerned about their welfare than the lawsuits.

‘We will continue to pray for them and minister to all the families involved.’