Reporter for The Canyon Weekly
A Silverton woman sentenced to prison in May for causing a wreck near Mill City involving an elderly couple and two young children has been sued by the victims for causing serious injuries.
On Sept. 11, a personal injury suit was filed in Marion County Circuit Court against Sierra Gemeni James, 28, for a wreck occurring May 25, 2023, on Hwy. 22 just west of Mill City.
Injured in the collision were John Hamlin and Gwen Hamlin, both 65 at the time, and two 5-year-old twin brothers represented by conservator Brian Hamlin.
Plaintiffs are seeking $310,518 in economic damages, $1.95 million in noneconomic damages, and intend to seek punitive damages for James’ alleged reckless behavior, said the suit.
According to court records, James was traveling in an SUV west on Hwy. 22 at speeds in excess of 95 mph and attempted to pass multiple vehicles at once. While in the oncoming lane she swerved to avoid a semi truck and struck the rear of a westbound pickup operated by John Hamlin and occupied by the other three plaintiffs.
The lawsuit said the pickup swerved out of control into the oncoming lane, crashed through a guardrail, traveled down an embankment and came to rest after striking a tree head-on. Injuries included a broken back and ribs and ruptured spleen for John Hamlin, fractured ribs and dental crowns for Gwen Hamlin, a broken jaw and collarbone and traumatic brain injury for one of the young brothers and a concussion for the other child, said the suit.
Plaintiffs claim both boys suffered severe psychological harm, including changes in behavior for the boy with TBI and PTSD for the other who witnessed his brother sustain life-threatening injuries, said the suit.
A third child, James’ 3-year-old daughter, was in the back seat of the SUV and was reportedly uninjured. James also suffered no reported injuries.
As of press time James had not been served with notice of the suit. Court records indicated her insurance company was in settlement talks with the plaintiffs before the suit was filed.
James pleaded guilty May 3 to third-degree assault, fourth-degree assault, reckless driving and reckless endangering and was sentenced to 30 months in prison.
During sentencing, James argued she should receive probation instead of prison and described herself as a good person without a criminal record who had not intended to harm anyone. She acknowledged her actions could have killed someone and said she was speeding to evade another driver due to an alleged road rage incident occurring several miles beforehand.
In a letter to the court May 29 from prison, James disputed the 30-month sentence and said she does “not belong in the same place as people who actually chose to commit crimes and hurt people.”
On Aug. 27 James filed a motion to have the remainder of her prison sentence converted to house arrest, which was denied Sept. 4 by Judge Natasha Zimmerman.
