Roy “Mack” Irwin was 79 years old when his own pickup truck killed him in a friend's driveway in New Braunfels. The 2023 Ford F-250 he had just parked rolled backward as he tried to climb back into the driver's seat on June 18, 2024, pulling him under the front driver-side wheel and leaving him with fatal head and torso injuries, according to a police report.
His daughter, Shelby Lane Reynolds, filed a wrongful-death lawsuit afterward, suing Ford Motor Co., Bluebonnet Ford and Northwest Automotive Warehouse, according to court records cited by the San Antonio Express-News. The case had been scheduled for trial the week of October 12, 2026, in state district court in San Antonio, but court records show it was settled before it reached a jury, the paper reported, authored by Patrick Danner. The settlement amount and terms were not disclosed in the available records.
Irwin, who worked as an independent sales representative for Dan Post Boots and lived in New Braunfels, died from blunt-force trauma, according to his death certificate, per Jeffrey Wigington, the Corpus Christi personal injury lawyer who represented Reynolds. The lawsuit alleged Irwin had driven the truck to friends' house in New Braunfels that day, shifted it into park before exiting while the engine was running and the air conditioner was on, with his partner sitting in the front passenger seat.
How the Truck Allegedly Got Away From Him
According to the complaint, the F-250 moved slowly forward and backward before rolling backward faster, and Irwin attempted to get into the driver's side as it rolled. He lost his footing and was pulled under the front driver-side wheel, the police report found.
Reynolds believed the pickup had previously been taken to Bluebonnet Ford because it would not stay in park, according to her lawsuit. She accused Ford of responsibility for a defective transmission and a failure to adequately warn of the danger, and accused Bluebonnet Ford of negligently servicing the vehicle. Her suit also alleged that Northwest Automotive Warehouse had installed an aftermarket grille guard on the F-250 that interfered with the truck's pedestrian-detection system.
Ford and Bluebonnet Ford denied the allegations in court filings and argued that Irwin himself bore some responsibility, including by failing to properly put the truck in park and heed warnings. Ford separately argued the truck met federal safety standards, while Bluebonnet Ford argued it was protected from product-liability claims as the vehicle's seller. Northwest Automotive Warehouse generally denied Reynolds' allegations and asserted that damages should be apportioned among the parties and other potentially responsible parties, according to court filings.
Settlements Filed Just Weeks Apart
Reynolds settled her claims against Northwest Automotive Warehouse in June, with both sides asking the court to dismiss their claims with prejudice, records show. On July 31, 2026, Reynolds, Ford and Bluebonnet Ford jointly told the court they had satisfactorily compromised and settled all matters in dispute and asked that the claims against them be dismissed. As of Thursday morning, the judge had signed no orders formally dismissing the claims, per the newspaper's review of court records.
Reynolds had sought damages exceeding $75,000, the minimum jurisdictional limit for the court, according to Wigington. Elizabeth Brabb, an Austin attorney who represented Ford and Kahlig Enterprises Inc., the company that owns Bluebonnet Ford, did not respond to emails seeking comment on the settlement, and neither did Wigington, the report noted.
A Known Risk With Super Duty Transmissions
The circumstances echo a defect Ford addressed in a 2022 recall, though the evidence does not establish that Irwin's specific truck was covered by that action or any other recall. Ford recalled 23,165 heavy-duty trucks, including 2020 Super Duty F-250 models with 6.7-liter diesel engines, after finding that a washer inside the transmission could disintegrate due to out-of-specification parts from a supplier, according to MotorSafety.org. That debris could prevent the vehicle from achieving or holding Park, creating a rollaway risk, and Ford said dealers would inspect the transmissions and replace part of the gearset free of charge.
Separately, federal recall records tied to Manufacturer Recall No. 23S06 describe Ford's process for tracing affected transmission parts back to specific vehicles, according to a report filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. More recent recalls covering 2023 F-250 Super Duty trucks have addressed unrelated issues, including a low-pressure fuel pump that could cause engine stalls and a software error that could obstruct the rearview camera image, according to Cars.com.
