Families of boys killed on Stuart's Cove Road settle wrongful death lawsuits

STUART, Fla. - The families of two alcohol-impaired boys killed on Southeast Cove Road in August 2009 when the Jeep they were in slammed into a front-end loader have settled wrongful death lawsuits filed against the construction firm in charge of the road widening project, court records show.

Killed in the crash were Nicholas Coady and Christopher Briglio, both 18, and Connor Graver, 16, all of Stuart. Coady, the driver of the 1989 Jeep Cherokee, had a blood-alcohol level of 0.251, more than three times the legal limit for an adult, according to Florida Highway Patrol reports. Blood-alcohol tests released by FHP indicated Briglio and Graver also were impaired at the time of the crash.

Court records show on Nov. 8, Briglio's parents, Harold and Susan Briglio, settled a wrongful death lawsuit filed in 2009 against Sheltra & Son Construction Co., and driver Pedro Perez-Espinoza, who was operating the front-end loader struck by Coady's Jeep.

Terms of the settlement were not disclosed in an order signed by Circuit Judge Elizabeth Metzger dismissing the suit and noting the stipulated settlement called for both sides to pay their own costs and attorneys fees.

Similar court papers filed Oct. 24 by Jonathan and Susan Graver, parents of Connor Graver, show Metzger signed an order approving an undisclosed settlement, and dismissing the wrongful death complaint the couple filed against Sheltra & Son and driver Perez-Espinoza.

According to a traffic homicide investigation report by the Florida Highway Patrol, a front-end loader was halfway into the eastbound lane of Cove Road at about 2 a.m. on Aug. 4, 2009, when it was struck by a Jeep Cherokee driven by Coady, killing the three boys. A flagman wasn't present to warn oncoming traffic that the loader was in the road.

According to the FHP report, Perez-Espinosa of Okeechobee, voluntarily gave a blood sample to a Martin County paramedic at 2:52 a.m. Aug. 4, less than an hour after the accident. A toxicology report completed at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement laboratory found no alcohol or drugs in Perez-Espinosa's system.

Perez-Espinosa, according to FHP, had dropped off a load of dirt on the south shoulder of the road and was "stopped in the eastbound lane of Southeast Cove Road facing in a southerly direction, attempting to put (the front-end loader) into gear to move forward at the time of the crash."

A little more than a year after the fatal crash, two Martin County men who had served the boys alcohol at a party, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and were sentenced to jail.

David Wayne Bubba Harper, an assistant South Fork High School baseball coach, and Craig D. Frick pleaded guilty to having an open house party where alcohol was consumed by minors. Harper was sentenced to 60 days in jail, the maximum term; Frick was sentenced to 20 days in jail and five months of probation.

Investigators determined Coady, Briglio and Graver drank beer at a party Harper and Frick threw Aug. 3, 2009, at their Palm City residence.

Evidence indicated the three had been drinking before they arrived at a party, court records show, which prosecutors said was key in the state's decision not to charge Harper and Frick with manslaughter.

This story will be updated later with more information.

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