Nearly a decade after her father was killed in a horrific crash, a nine-year-old East Village girl is set to receive a $4 million settlement from the trucking company blamed for his death.
Lailonni Daisy Willis was just nine months old when her dad Marquis Willis, 22, died in a speeding BMW — driven by an intoxicated pal — that plowed into a Mack garbage truck in Flatbush.
The horrifying collision, caught on security cameras, occurred at 1:35 am on July 9, 2014 after Willis and two friends, who had been drinking, left a party.
Willis, a construction worker, rode in the passenger seat of pal Garfield Gwood’s BMW, which zoomed at 76 mph on Utica Avenue before smashing into the 40-foot truck as it made a lumbering left turn.
Gwood pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter and spent seven years in prison.
But a Brooklyn judge ruled that truck driver Roberto Venditti was also to blame for an unsafe turn.
Lailonni’s wrongful-death lawsuit against Venditti and sanitation company IESI was delayed for years by the COVID-19 pandemic and other postponements.
During the 19-day trial in Brooklyn Supreme Court, famed pathologist Michael Baden testified for IESI, arguing that Willis was unconscious after the collision.
But EMTs said he was alert and answered questions, evidence that he suffered conscious pain for 10 to 18 minutes as he bled to death, said Lailonni’s lawyer, Peter DeFilippis.
Lailonni took the stand to talk about her life as a gymnast, cheerleader and Girl Scout, but cried when telling about the sadness of growing up without a father.
Maadia Bunch, 29, Lailonni’s mom and Willis’ fiancée, described him as a doting dad during their daughter’s infancy.
Shortly before the jury would begin deliberations, IESI offered the $4 million settlement for damages, including “loss of parental guidance.” Gwood, also found liable, paid another $50,000, his insurance coverage.
“While no amount of money will ever bring back my child’s father, I’m definitely happy with the outcome,” Bunch said. “My plan is for Lailonni to go to college and to keep her active. I’ve got so much in store for her.”
The money will be doled out to Lailonni over several years starting at age 18, but Bunch will ask the Surrogate Court for some funds sooner to improve Lailonni’s life with things like tutoring and guitar lessons.
“We hope that this settlement will bring some closure to the Willis family as they continue to cope with this immeasurable tragedy,” DeFilippis said.
Also killed in the crash was backseat BMW passenger Dwayne McDonald, who had no children. His family, represented by The Cochran Firm, settled several years ago for $300,000.