Wrongful death lawsuit filed after Lake Jordan boat crash

ELMORE COUNTY, Ala. (WSFA) - A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed as a result of the July 4 double-fatal boat crash on Lake Jordan, according to court documents.

Susan and Wahoo House, the parents of 17-year-old Travis House, filed suit in Elmore County Circuit Court Friday against Damion J. Bruno, a Chilton County resident who was the driver of the other boat.

Travis was a passenger on a 19-foot, center console Sea Hunt and was enjoying an annual fireworks show on the lake when, around 9:30 p.m., Bruno’s 19-foot Maxum runabout boat is said to have slammed into it without warning.

House and another victim, 26-year-old Devin Clay Jackson, were thrown from the boat and killed as a result of the collision. Their bodies were recovered from the water on July 6. A total of five others were injured in the crash but survived.

In their suit, the Houses accuse Bruno of “act[ing] negligently and/or wantonly, with conscious and reckless disregard for the rights and safety of others.” Their suit also contents that the defendant “had a long history of substance abuse and was not competent or qualified to safely operate a boat on the waters of the State of Alabama.”

The suit states that “Bruno was operating his boat at a high rate of speed, in a dangerous and reckless manner, and in a manner almost certainly to cause injury or death.”

The plaintiffs are seeking monetary damages and court costs and are demanding a jury trial.