According to a police investigation, tennis heavyweight Venus Williams will be acquitted from her involvement in a fatal car crash that happened earlier this summer. Authorities have found that Williams and the driver of the other vehicle involved in the collision, which resulted in 78-year old Jerome Barson’s hospitalization and subsequent death, are ultimately not at fault.
Barson’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Wimbledon champ, but Williams has denied any claims that she was the reason for Barson’s untimely passing. The family is seeking over $15,000 in damages from Williams over the incident. The family has gone on to say that “Palm Beach Gardens Police Department’s new report is incorrect — Ms. Williams clearly violated our client’s right of way because our client had a green light, as indicated in each and every police reports issued in this case to date.”
Previous reports note how the crash may have been caused by a faulty decision made behind the wheel, where Williams was blamed by officers on the scene for violating the opposing driver’s right of way when stuck in an intersection. However, once police conducted a further investigation into the collision, they found that the Nissan Ultima that turned in front of Williams as the traffic light changed violated Williams’s right of way as a driver.
This comes as a legal victory for Williams, who just recently experienced another misfortune when her home was burglarized during the 2017 U.S. Open, losing a reported $400,000 in personal property.
