Venus Williams faces lawsuit in Florida car accident case

The family of a man who died in a car crash involving Venus Williams plan to sue the tennis superstar, a lawyer said Friday.

Attorney Michael Steinger told ABC television’s “Good Morning America” that the family of Jerome Barson would file a wrongful death suit against Williams following the June 9 crash in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

Barson, who suffered head injuries in the accident, died two weeks later on June 22.

“At this point we are attempting to both preserve the evidence and gain access to evidence,” Steinger told the program. “There were video cameras placed at guard houses where Ms. Williams lives, police have refused after multiple requests to turn those over to us, and we would like to see visual portrayal of the accident on those videos,” he added.

According to details of a Palm Beach Gardens police report, Williams’ 2010 Toyota Sequoia SUV was in collision with a 2016 Hyundai Accent driven by Barson’s wife, Linda Barson.

The police report described Williams as being “at fault” in the incident. The accident remains under investigation and she has not been charged with an offence.

A statement from Williams’ attorney Malcolm Cunningham on Thursday said the incident was an “unfortunate accident.” “Ms. Williams entered the intersection on a green light,” Cunningham said. “The police report estimates that Ms. Williams was traveling at 5 mph when Mrs. Barson crashed into her. Authorities did not issue Ms. Williams with any citations or traffic violations. This is an unfortunate accident and Venus expresses her deepest condolences to the family who lost a loved one.”

Cunningham said Williams entered an intersection on a green light that turned red during her turn but became stuck in the intersection because of traffic.

The police report said Williams was deemed at fault for blocking the right of way of the other vehicle.