The widow of Endicott College police sergeant Jeremy Cole has launched a wrongful-death lawsuit that takes direct aim at House of Blues Boston and parent company Live Nation, accusing them of overserving the driver prosecutors say caused the crash that killed her husband. Filed Monday in Suffolk Superior Court, the complaint seeks more than $50 million in damages and punitive awards and labels the Fenway venue’s alcohol service that night as careless and negligent.
Suit ties Fenway service to crash
According to the complaint, Laura Cole alleges that patron Keoma Duarte was “visibly intoxicated” while at a House of Blues show and that staff continued to serve him even though he had driven to the club and planned to drive home afterward, Boston.com reports. The suit names Live Nation Entertainment along with the Fenway venue and brings claims for wrongful death, conscious pain and suffering, and loss of consortium.
The crash and criminal case
The filing ties those allegations to a wrong-way collision on Interstate 95 in Newbury on Nov. 27, 2024, that killed Sgt. Jeremy Cole. Prosecutors say Duarte’s Tesla was heading south in the northbound lanes when it slammed into Cole’s SUV, and Cole was pronounced dead at the scene, according to WCVB. Duarte has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and other charges, and his criminal case is still working its way through the courts. At a March compliance hearing, a judge set a May 22 discovery deadline as lawyers sift through large amounts of data from Duarte’s Tesla, the outlet reports.
Evidence the complaint cites
Court records and prior coverage say investigators recovered multiple small bottles inside Duarte’s vehicle along with a receipt from a cannabis dispensary, and that testing at Massachusetts General Hospital showed a blood alcohol concentration of about 0.19, more than twice the legal limit, according to the Boston Globe. The lawsuit further claims Duarte showed classic signs of impairment, including slurred speech and glossy, bloodshot eyes, both at the venue and after the crash.
Legal hurdles for overservice claims in Massachusetts
On paper, Massachusetts law is blunt: it is illegal to sell alcohol to someone who is obviously intoxicated. In practice, turning that rule into a courtroom win is not quite so simple. Negligence suits that hinge on alleged overservice have to navigate procedural hoops and high evidentiary standards. Legal summaries note that breaking the statute can count as evidence of negligence but does not automatically make a bar or club liable, and plaintiffs often need to file a detailed affidavit early in the case to keep dram-shop-style claims alive. See analysis at Justia and Massachusetts appellate decisions, including the case of Michnik-Zilberman v. Gordon's Liquor, available at Justia.
What's next
The civil case will unfold in Suffolk Superior Court while Duarte’s criminal prosecution continues on a separate track. Both matters could hinge on the same core evidence, including surveillance footage, witness statements from inside the venue, and technical data pulled from the Tesla. Local outlets report that Live Nation has been asked to comment on the lawsuit and that the company has not yet issued a public statement. Boston 25 News said it contacted the company for a response.
Endicott remembers Sgt. Cole
Endicott College has said Sgt. Cole “exemplified the highest standards of public service,” and the campus has continued to honor the 25-year veteran as the community grieves, according to Boston.com. Cole is survived by his wife and four children, and the new lawsuit marks a parallel effort by his family to hold a major venue and its parent company to account while the criminal charges against Duarte proceed.
