NC bar owner agrees to $850,000 settlement of lawsuit over fatal crash
By Jim Greene
Published on March 15, 2006
Sally McKenzie Clark and Anna Grace Jordan, both 19, were killed April 4, 2004 in Huntsville when the car in which they were passengers was struck by a vehicle driven by David Scott Shimp, 21, of Florida. Clarks' father and Jordan's mother filed suit against Firefly Five, Inc., the company that owned The Graduate Food & Pub in Cornelius.
David Clark said that The Graduate served Shimp six pints of beer and three shots of liquor over the course of just over an hour, and therefore shared responsibility with Shimp in the fatal crash.
Shimp entered a guilty plea to murder charges in the case, and admitted he was drunk and was speeding when he hit the car.
Although Firefly Five owns several bars in the Charlotte area, the Cornelius location is no longer in operation.
Clark said the case was about accountability and that it is his hope that other bars and restaurants will be aware of their accountability when they continue to serve patrons who are already intoxicated.
The settlement will be divided between the victims' families and Suzanne Paige Kessler, who survived the crash. She was driving the car in which the cousins were passengers.
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