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The widow of an Indiana State Trooper who died from injuries suffered in an auto accident in January has filed a petition to collect damages for his wrongful death.
Jason E. Beal, 24, died Jan. 15, three days after being struck by a car while helping a tow truck driver along an ice-covered stretch of Ind. 14, near Sidney.
After a review by the prosecutor's office, no charges were filed against the driver of the car, Teresa Cooper of North Manchester.
Cooper's car reportedly slid out of control on the icy roadway, striking a wrecker alongside the road that was pulling a car out of a ditch. Cooper's car then struck Beal, who was helping the wrecker driver, throwing him an estimated 50 feet into the air upon impact.
Beal suffered head and severe internal injuries in the Jan. 12 accident and remained on life support until Jan. 15, a day before his 25th birthday.
In the petition filed Tuesday in Kosciusko Superior Court I, Beal's widow, Emily A. Beal, 22, of Waldron, is appointed administrator of the estate "for the sole purpose of bringing an action concerning [Beal's] alleged wrongful death."
In addition to his widow, Beal is survived by a son, 1-month-old Cody Jason Michael Beal, who was born several months after Beal's death.
At the time of his death, Beal was a resident of Kosciusko County, residing in Silver Lake. He left no property other than the claim for wrongful death.
The attorneys for the matter are J. Gregory Garrison of Garrison & Kiefer, P.C., Indianapolis, and Stanley E. Pequignot of Rockhill Pinnick LLP, Warsaw.
