Admin December 12, 2024
Dwayne Haskins’ widow has voluntarily dismissed the lawsuit that she filed against more than a dozen people or business entities following her husband’s death in 2022, according to court records filed Wednesday.
Kalabrya Haskins’ lawyer, Rick Ellsley, confirmed to USA TODAY Sports on Thursday morning that his client is dropping the lawsuit after reaching a series of settlements with parties involved, including a previously announced settlement with the driver and owners of the dump truck that struck and killed Haskins in April 2022.
“All of the settlements that were obtained have now been paid and so now the wrongful death case has been closed,” Ellsley wrote in a text message.
He described the financial terms of the settlements as “substantial” but did not disclose specific amounts.
Wednesday’s resolution comes 20 months after Kalabrya Haskins filed the wide-ranging lawsuit in Broward County, Florida − and more than 2 1/2 years after the death of her husband, a former first-round NFL draft pick. Dwayne Haskins, who played quarterback for two NFL teams, died on April 9, 2022 after being struck and killed by a dump truck that morning while attempting to cross a highway near Fort Lauderdale. He was 24 years old.
Dwayne Haskins had exited his vehicle in an apparent attempt to reach a gas station after his rental car ran out of gas, and the local medical examiner’s office later ruled the NFL quarterback’s death an accident. It also found that he had ketamine, which the Drug Enforcement Administration describes as a “club drug,” in his system as well as a blood-alcohol concentration of at least 0.20%, which is more than double the legal limit in Florida.
Kalabrya Haskins filed the lawsuit in Broward County on behalf of her late husband’s estate around the one-year anniversary of his death. The lawsuit alleged negligence by a wide range of parties and companies including the driver of the dump truck that struck Dwayne Haskins, the state government entity tasked with maintaining the roadway, the company that provided his rental car, and the nightclub he attended hours before the crash.
In August 2023, Kalabrya Haskins reached a settlement with three of the initial 14 defendants, including the owners and driver of the dump truck. A series of settlements with other individual defendants followed, according to court records, leaving only three active defendants at the time of Wednesday’s filing, which served as a final resolution to the lawsuit.
Kalabrya Haskins is also involved in a separate lawsuit, filed against her in federal court earlier this year by the NFL quarterback’s parents and sister. Dwayne Haskins Sr., his wife Tamara and their daughter Tamia allege that Kalabrya Haskins has harrassed them when they’ve used their son’s name, image and likeness on social media and challenged their creation of a non-profit foundation in his name. Kalabrya Haskins’ attorneys disputed those claims in a filing earlier this week, writing among other things that “there are no facts that Defendant harassed the Plaintiffs.”
Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Bluesky @TomSchad.bsky.social.