$3 million lawsuit over tragic accident in Barrie that killed 6 young people

The neighbourhood where six young Barrie residents died in a fiery car crash has been described as a “trap” in a $3 million lawsuit filed by the family of one of the victims.

The lawsuit was filed in the Ontario Superior Court on March 28, 2024.

Haley Marin, Curtis King, Luke West, Jersey Mitchell, River Wells and Jason Ono-O’Connor, who were all in their 20s, were killed Aug. 27, 2022, when the Hyundai they were riding in went into a construction hole in the middle of the closed McKay Road, between County Road 27 and Veterans Drive, around 6 a.m.

According to the lawsuit affidavit, the car was traveling east on McKay Road when it struck “the wall of a concrete shaft that protruded from the ground at a height of approximately two feet or more around the edge of the shaft.”

“It is alleged that the Hyundai struck the side of the concrete shaft, overturned and embedded more than 15 feet into the bottom of the shaft. At some point the vehicle caught fire,” the claim statement reads.

The lawsuit also says that “on the day of the accident, there were no barricades or fences in place, and if there were any warning signs, they were clearly insufficient to protect the driver from danger.”

The area was later described in the lawsuit as a “danger and trap for motorists.”

The word “trap” was used four times in the lawsuit to describe the area.

The lawsuit also describes the crash site, for clarity, using what it calls a comparison: “The placement of the concrete shaft and the lack of warning and the absence of barricades and/or fencing would be reminiscent of someone installing an empty, 16-foot-deep underground swimming pool with a seven-foot curb on a rural road overnight without warning, without alerting the public.”

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Kimberly More, Haley Marin’s mother, along with Haley’s brothers, Cody and Aidan Marin. Each is suing the defendants for $1 million in general damages.

The defendants are: Corporation of the City of Barrie, Condrain Company, John Doe, Erin Mitchell, Watersand Construction, Erritt Construction, Schaeffers Consulting Engineers and Alley Nightclub.

“Plaintiffs claim that the above accident and the resulting injuries and damages were caused solely as a result of the defendants’ joint and several negligence,” the lawsuit reads.

The driver of the car was John Doe, but it is unknown who was behind the wheel of the Hyundai at the time of the crash.

Erin Mitchell, Jersey Mitchell’s mother, owned the car that was involved in the accident.

None of the accusations have been tested or proven in court.

Most of the defendants requested comment on the lawsuits filed by BarrieToday he did not answer.

“As the matters are pending before the courts, we decline to comment at this time,” said Iain Peck, a lawyer for Schaeffers.

The City of Barrie is named in the lawsuit because it is responsible for “regulating building codes and safety within the City of Barrie, Ontario,” the lawsuit states. “They have failed to take the necessary precautions to ensure safety on public roads.”

Condrain, employed by the city, “was at all times responsible for public safety at the scene of the subject incident,” the lawsuit says. “They had no adequate warning signs (or no warning signs at all) to indicate the presence of the concrete shaft that the car had crashed into.”

The driver, John Doe, “failed to slow down, swerve or stop to avoid the accident,” the lawsuit says. “He entered the construction site even though he knew or should have known that it was dangerous.”

The lawsuit also alleges that he “operated a motor vehicle while impaired by alcohol, drugs, fatigue, stress, or a combination thereof, or because he was not wearing appropriate corrective lenses.”

According to the complaint, John Doe consumed alcohol at the Alley nightclub located at 34 Dunlop St. E. in Barrie on or about August 26 and 27, 2022.

“It is alleged that the House, through its employees, servants or agents, continued to serve alcoholic beverages to John Doe even though there were indications that he was in such a state of intoxication that he might have been a danger to himself and others had he operated a motor vehicle ” – reads the lawsuit.

“As a result of the negligence of the Bar Association, John Doe operated a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, which resulted in a motor vehicle accident, resulting in the death of Haley Marin as a result of the wrongful act,” the lawsuit reads.

Lazy Ty Inc. dba Alley Nightclub filed an Answer to the Statement of Claim and Counterclaim on June 13, 2024 in the Superior Court of Ontario.

In its response to the complaint, “Alley denies that defendant John Doe was present on the premises on August 26-27, 2022.”

“Alley denies that she provided John Doe with any alcoholic beverage on or about August 26/27, 2022,” and that “Alley denies that John Doe was intoxicated on the premises, as alleged,” the counterclaim reads.

The lawsuit says Mitchell “permitted an incompetent driver to operate her motor vehicle” and “knew or should have known that the vehicle was not in a proper operating condition to be operated safely on a highway.”

The lawsuit said Watersand “was responsible for the construction, management, operation, design, maintenance and preservation of the highway and was responsible for maintaining the highway in reasonable repair.”

The lawsuit also alleges that the towns of Barrie, Condrain, Watersand, Erritt and Schaeffers “failed to exercise reasonable care to ensure that the highway was reasonably safe for motor vehicle traffic” and “failed to provide any adequate warning of the existence of a hazard upon entering construction site.”

Last September, all criminal negligence causing death charges against Condrain in connection with the crash were dropped, with a Barrie court hearing the Crown had new evidence and the charges could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

Condrain, a Concord-based company, was charged in January 2023. Court documents say the company “failed to sign and barricade a temporary road closure of McKay Road between County Road 27 and Veterans Drive in accordance with the plan and traffic management agreement with Erritt Construction Ltd.”

Six young people died when the vehicle they were riding in fell into a construction hole in the middle of a closed road known as the “tunnel access shaft” by the city of Barrie.

On Sunday, August 28, 2022, at approximately 2 a.m., police investigating a missing person case checked the construction site and located a vehicle in a large hole in the middle of McKay Road.

Investigators determined that the fatal crash occurred shortly after 6 a.m. on Saturday, August 27, 2022. Police say the group was traveling to nearby Gateway Casinos Innisfil (Georgian Downs), near the crash site and just outside the city limits.