The aftermath of a heartbreaking street racing tragedy that claimed the life of a young mother while she was waiting at a bus stop continues, as her family has filed a lawsuit seeking $15 million in damages from the city of Portland, among other defendants. Ashlee McGill, 26, was tragically killed on August 27, 2022, when a street racing incident turned fatal on Southeast Stark Street and Southeast 133rd Avenue, as stated in KOIN's recent reporting.
The complaint implicates the Portland Police Bureau, the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT), the local transit agency TriMet, and other parties, accosting them for various acts of alleged negligence and recklessness. Notably, TriMet has been specifically targeted in the lawsuit for failing to install protective barriers at the bus stop, which was located in a high crash corridor, as KPTV reports. These protective measures, the suit contends, could have prevented McGill's untimely death.
Two men were identified and subsequently arrested in connection with the fatal street racing incident. According to details released by KATU, Kenneth Freeman pleaded guilty in September 2023 to criminally negligent homicide, receiving a five-year prison sentence. Jonathan Peña, his cohort in the calamitous race, was sentenced to a three-year term after a guilty plea in May 2024, which included charges of criminally negligent homicide, reckless driving, and recklessly endangering another person.
In addition to seeking damages against the racers, including Freeman and Peña, her mourning family's lawsuit also names the owners of the cars used in the deadly spectacle and other unnamed participants in the event. While the state, the city agencies, and Freeman and Peña's imprisonment have been secured by sentences handed by the judicature, the plaintiffs desire to reach some semblance of closure and justice, hopefully, with the help of this legal act, as they told KPTV. However, while pressed for comments regarding the standing litigation, both the Portland Police Bureau and ODOT, alongside the City of Portland and TriMet, maintained their stance of not commenting as the lawsuit proceeds.
