Atlantic City casino named in lawsuit filed by family of boy killed in DUI crash
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (WPVI) -- The family of an 8-year-old boy killed in a drunk driving crash in South Jersey launched a new lawsuit on Friday.
Javier Velez died in July of 2023 after 25-year-old Edward Johnston struck a parked Honda next to the White Horse Pike in Absecon.
The 8-year-old was asleep in the backseat of his family's vehicle during a fishing trip when the Honda was hit by Johnston, who was traveling at 107 mph.
MORE | NJ man who drove drunk at 107 mph before crash that killed sleeping child sentenced to prison
Johnston was sentenced to 15 years in prison last month.
The lawsuit names Johnston, the Tropicana Casino and Ducktown Tavern. The suit alleges that Johnston was served alcohol while he was visibly intoxicated.
According to the amended complaint, Johnston consumed alcohol at several establishments prior to the crash, including at Ducktown Tavern, and Boogie Nights, which is located at the casino.
"We allege in the complaint that the drunk driver was served to more than twice the legal limit while at Boogie Nights," said attorney Michael T. van der Veen during a news conference on the Atlantic City boardwalk on Friday. "We allege that the bartenders who served some of those drinks and some of those bartenders we allege were not certified at the time for the safe service of alcohol."
van der Veen also claims that Boogie Nights employees were not counting the drinks they were serving.
It's also alleged that there are "crucial deficiencies in the timeline video" produced by the Tropicana.
"We allege that there's an hour and a half of video missing in total and more importantly service of some of the alcohol," said van der Veen.
The lawsuit is seeking a jury trial, demanding both compensatory and punitive damages.
