Former Georgia recruiter Victoria Bowles has sued the UGA Athletic Association, Philadelphia Eagles rookie Jalen Carter and the estate of deceased recruiter Chandler Lecroy according to documents filed in Gwinnett County Court.
The Bulls were a backseat passenger who survived the car accident that killed Georgia offensive linemen Devin Willock and Lecroy on Jan. 15, hours after Georgia celebrated its second straight national championship with an on-campus parade. Police charged Carter with racing the SUV, driven by LeCroy, which crashed. A police investigation following the wreck concluded that “alcoholism, racing, reckless driving and speed were significant contributing factors to the accident”.
The suit accuses Carter, who was selected ninth in the April NFL Draft, of having “no valid driver’s license at the time of the accident” and of illegally leaving the scene.
Carter left the scene less than 10 minutes later when one of the UGA players on the scene yelled at him: “Hey…hey JC…you might want to go ahead and go get the f…” (as can be heard in background of Willock’s iPhone’s automatic 911 call),” the suit said.
Carter did not file a lawsuit on March 16 on two counts of reckless driving and racing. He was sentenced to 12 months probation, a $1,000 fine and 80 hours of community service. He must also complete a state-approved driving course.
The suit also accuses the UGA Athletic Association of negligence, which issued a statement that said, in part, that “the rental vehicles were to be turned over upon immediate completion of employment duties.”
“On the evening of the championship celebration, LeCroy told Ms. Bowles that he (LeCroy) had ‘permission’ to keep the ATV ‘until tomorrow,’” the suit said. “The UGA Athletic Association issued a public statement after the incident alleging that ‘the rental vehicles were to be delivered. Upon immediate completion of recruiting duties. Numerous text messages from employee supervisors to LeCroy, Ms. Bowles, and other employees show that the association’s statement is false. Recruiters have been regularly informed that they may leave their personal vehicles overnight at the Butts-Mehre football facility and use leased association vehicles permitted by a specified date and time, unrelated to their assigned recruiting activity duties.”
The suit also alleges that the UGAAA was negligent in allowing LeCroy to operate the SUV at all. Attorneys for the Bulls said that the sports officials were aware that “LeCroy had at least four speeding tickets, including two ‘excessive speeding’ violations under Georgia law.”
“The UGA Athletic Association could reasonably have concluded that LeCroy regularly drove at extreme speeds when law enforcement was not present,” the suit said. While LeCroy may have been legally intoxicated, the proximate cause of the collision was street racing and extreme speed. The association’s negligent charge of the large rental SUV to LeCroy, knowing it was reckless and accustomed to speed, is consistent with LeCroy’s primary negligence – traveling 104.2 miles in the hour “.
The lawsuit states that LeCroy’s supervisor, Logen Reed, “had personal knowledge” of the super speeding ticket issued to LeCroy on October 30, 2022, as Reed was in the vehicle at the time of the ticket.
The UGA Athletic Association responded in a statement: “We are continuing to review the complaint, as plaintiff’s attorney chose to share it with the media before sharing it with us. Based on our initial review, we dispute her claims and will vigorously defend the interests of the athletic union in court.”
The lawsuit said Bowles incurred more than $171,500 in medical expenses. Some of her injuries include 10 broken ribs, a broken collarbone, lacerations to her kidneys and liver, a punctured lung and a collapse and closed head injury. She also developed arachnoiditis, a typically permanent neurological condition for which there is no cure that often progresses to paralysis, according to the lawsuit.
This is the second lawsuit filed against the UGA Athletic Association related to the crash after Willock’s father filed a lawsuit against UGAAA, Carter, and two other accusers in May. Willock’s father is seeking up to $40 million in damages.
(Photo by Galen Carter: Kevin Langley/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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