Wrongful Death Blog

A two year old girl drowned in a hot tub in Double Oak on Wednesday less than five minutes after family members saw her eating a snack inside the house.

The death struck the family of Aliyeh Hashemi just over a year after another tragedy – the April 2010 robbery and killing of her father, Mohammad Hashemi, in Ellis County.

“We were finally breathing easier, a little bit, after getting this case done and then that just happens,” said Nehdi Mazrooee, a relative of the girl.

“She was very shy, but at the same time she had the most beautiful smile you could see on a little child’s face.”

Aliyeh was taken to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital  in Flower Mound about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday but could not be revived, officials said.

Mazrooe said there had been a kids pool party at the house. The home has a pool and a raised hot tub. He said the hot tub varies in depth from 1 to about 4 feet.

Aliyeh and her twin sister – two of seven children in the family – liked to play in the shallow part of the hot tub and knew not to get in the deep end, Mazrooee said. Her mother was watching the children from her kitchen window, and six other adults were outside, he said.

He said Aliyeh had been eating a snack in the house less than five minutes before she was found in the water.

“She might have slipped into the 4 feet deep part or maybe she lost something,” Mazrooe said.

The girls father was making a night deposit from the Exxon station he owned in Ellis County when he was abducted last year. His burning vehicle was abandoned south of Ennis, and his body was later found in woods near the gas station.

Four suspects were arrested, one of whom worked at Hashemi’s ags station, on Interstate 45 north of Ennis.

If you are a victim of personal injury, auto accident, motorcycle accident, etc., please contact The Law Office of Fears & Nachawati at 1(866) 705-7584 for your free consultation.

Fears | Nachawati Attorneys & Councelors
Dallas: 4925 Greenville Avenue Suite 715, Dallas, TX 75206
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For the death of an individual who is an unborn child, the plaintiff shall provide medical or other evidence that the mother of the individual was pregnant at the time of the individual’s death.

If you or someone you know has been seriously injured please contact Fears Nachawati Attorneys and Counselors toll free at 1(866)705-7584.

Fears | Nachawati Attorneys & Councelors
Dallas: 4925 Greenville Avenue Suite 715, Dallas, TX 75206
Phone: (214)890-0711
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An action to recover damages is for the exclusive benefit of the surviving spouse, children, and parents of the deceased.

The surviving spouse, children, and parents of the deceased may bring the action or one or more of those individuals may bring the action for the benefit of all.

If none of the individuals entitled to bring an action have begun the action within three calendar months after the death of the injured individual, his executor or administrator shall bring and prosecute the action unless requested not to by all those individuals.

If you or someone you know has been seriously injured please contact Fears Nachawati Attorneys and Counselors toll free at 1(866)705-7584.

Fears | Nachawati Attorneys & Councelors
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Phone: (214)890-0711
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An action for actual damages arising from an injury that causes an individual’s death may be brought if liability exists under this section.

A person is liable for damages arising from an injury that causes an individual’s death if the injury was caused by the person’s or his agent’s or servant’s wrongful act, neglect, carelessness, unskillfulness, or default.

A person is liable for damages arising from an injury that causes an individual’s death if: the person is a proprietor, owner, charterer, or hirer of an industrial or public utility plant or of a railroad, street railway, steamboat, stagecoach, or other vehicle for the transportation of goods or passengers;  and the injury was caused by the person’s or his agent’s or servant’s wrongful act, neglect, carelessness, unskillfulness, or default.

A person is liable for damages arising from an injury that causes an individual’s death if: the person is a receiver, trustee, or other person in charge of or in control of a railroad, street railway, steamboat, stagecoach, or other vehicle for the transportation of goods or passengers, of an industrial or public utility plant, or of other machinery; and the injury was caused by: the person’s wrongful act, neglect, carelessness, unskillfulness, or default; the person’s servant’s or agent’s wrongful act, neglect, carelessness, unfitness, unskillfulness, or default;  or a bad or unsafe condition of the railroad, street railway, or other machinery under the person’s control or operation.

A person is liable for damages arising from an injury that causes an individual’s death if: the person is a receiver, trustee, or other person in charge of or in control of a railroad, street railway, steamboat, stagecoach, or other vehicle for the transportation of goods or passengers, of an industrial or public utility plant, or of other machinery;  and the action could have been brought against the owner of the railroad, street railway, or other machinery if he had been acting as operator.

If you or someone you know has been seriously injured please contact Fears Nachawati Attorneys and Counselors toll free at 1(866)705-7584.

Fears | Nachawati Attorneys & Councelors
Dallas: 4925 Greenville Avenue Suite 715, Dallas, TX 75206
Phone: (214)890-0711
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In the trial of an offense, on the motion of the attorney representing the state the judge shall make an affirmative finding of fact and enter the affirmative finding in the papers in the case if the judge determines that, regardless of whether the conduct at issue is the subject of the prosecution or part of the same criminal episode as the conduct that is the subject of the prosecution, a victim in the trial: is or has been a victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons; or has suffered substantial physical or mental abuse as a result of having been a victim of criminal activity.

That part of the papers in the case containing an affirmative finding under this article: must include specific information identifying the victim, as available; may not include information identifying the victim’s location; and is confidential, unless written consent for the release of the affirmative finding is obtained from the victim or, if the victim is younger than 18 years of age, the victim’s parent or guardian.

If you or someone you know are victims of abuse, please contact Fears Nachawati Attorneys and Counselors toll free at 1(866)705-7584.

Fears | Nachawati Attorneys & Councelors
Dallas: 4925 Greenville Avenue Suite 715, Dallas, TX 75206
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Two people died over the weekend in Arlington in separate traffic accidents in which alcohol was believed to be a factor.

 The first accident happened shortly after 1 a.m. Saturday when a Grand Prairie woman riding in a pickup got into an argument with the driver, opened her door and fell out in the 900 block of North Sherry Street.

Sonia Velasquez, 33, was taken to Medical Center of Arlington, where she died, police said.

The driver, 24-year-old Jason McLemore of Grand Prairie, was arrested on a charge of driving while intoxicated but was not believed to be at fault in Velasquez’s death.

The second accident occurred about 2:30 a.m. Sunday when an Arlington man plowed into the back of a tow truck that was parked behind a disabled vehicle on southbound State Highway 360 near Division Street.

The driver of the vehicle that hit the tow truck, 29-year-old Jeremy Weethee, died at the scene. His passenger was taken to Methodist Dallas Medical Center with injuries that were not thought to be life-threatening.

Police said speed and alcohol played roles in the crash.

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Two people were arrested and a third is wanted on charges of selling or providing alcohol to minors for an after-prom party in which a Skyline High School senior died of alcohol poisoning in downtown Dallas early this month.

 Jonathan Sierra, 18, was pronounced dead at Aloft in the 1000 block of Young Street on May 1 following a night of drinking with friends after his senior prom in Mesquite.

 A joint Dallas police investigation with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission led to the charge that Malissa Cheng, 54, sold two cases of beer to a 17-year-old boy on April 30 at Trinity Drive In Grocery in the 5000 block of Military Parkway.

Cheng is listed as the president of the company that operates the grocery store, according to public records. She could not be reached for comment.

Jose Pulido, 27, admitted buying two bottles of liquor and giving them to his underage brother for the party, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. Pulido is also accused of renting a room at the Aloft for his brother and his friends. He could not be reached for comment.

A 24-year-old man whose name has not been released is also accused of buying two bottles of liquor and giving them to his 18-year-old cousin for the party, TABC officials said.

The students went back and forth between two Aloft rooms during the course of the party, the affidavits said.

Interviews of witnesses who attended the party with Sierra helped lead to the three suspects in the case, said TABC spokeswoman Carolyn Beck. TABC agents routinely conduct investigations to determine the source of alcohol provided to minors, she said.

“Providing alcohol to minors to us is a very serious concern, and it is something we would pursue any and every time we have some good evidence to follow,” Beck said.

Cheng and Pulido were arrested Thursday, and the 24-year-old man remains at large. The Class A misdemeanor charge of sale of alcohol to a minor is punishable by up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine.

The charge of purchasing, furnishing or making alcohol available to a minor, also a Class A misdemeanor, is punishable by up to a year in jail, a $4,000 fine and a 180-day driver’s license suspension.

TABC agents are also preparing an administrative case that could lead to the suspension or cancellation of the Trinity Drive In Grocery alcohol permits. The store has no prior violations, officials said.

TABC officials also said investigators found that the Aloft was not the source of any of the alcohol.

“There is nothing innocent about giving alcoholic beverages to minors for special occasions,” TABC Assistant Chief of Enforcement Rod Venner said in a written statement. “It doesn’t enhance the experience, and in this instance, it ended in tragedy.”

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Collin County Sheriff’s Lt. John Norton said a 911 call came in just after 8 a.m. Thursday about a woman being dragged. Deputies discovered a woman’s body in a field off County Road 209 near the town of Weston. The rope was still around her neck.

Norton said Theron Wayne Johnson, 47, lives on the wooded property, which is listed in appraisal records as a 10 acre parcel.

“He met us at the gate and took us to the body,” Norton said.

It’s unclear how far the woman had been dragged. The woman had not been positively identified Thursday evening. Her autopsy was pending.

Johnson told deputies that his girlfriend put the rope around her own neck and then tied it to the pickups bumper. Norton said deputies are still trying to determine what happened.

Johnson was being held without bail on a murder charge.

The country road leading to the property is unpaved in the isolated area eight miles north of McKinney. The one lane driveway leading to the house is gated with a faded yellow “keep out” sign blocking the entrance. The house, built in 1976, is not visible from the road. But neighbors said the couple could often be heard yelling at each other.

“There was a lot of arguing,” said neighbor Jaeson Thorton, who said he didn’t know Johnson well. “It was a volatile situation.”

Court records show Johnson pleaded guilty in July 2007 to driving while intoxicated with a minor child in the vehicle. He was sentenced to two years for the state jail felony and had his drivers licence suspended.

His probation was revoked last year, though records don’t say why. Johnson, whom courts declared indigent, served additional jail time, according to the records.

State records show Johnson was convicted of three counts of burglary of a motor vehicle in Hunt County in 1985. More than a year later, he was arrested on a cocaine possession charge and convicted.

Fears | Nachawati Attorneys & Councelors
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Phone: (214)890-0711
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The deaths of three Flower Mound teens last year from heroin overdoses have led to the indictment of 17 people in drug-related crimes.

A federal grand jury has indicted 12 defendants on charges of conspiracy to distribute more than 100 grams of heroin in the Flower Mound area. If convicted, they each face up to 40 years in federal prison.

Five others are charged with gun and drug violations.

Most live in Southern Denton County.

The indictments were announced Tuesday by assistant U.S. Attorney John M. Bales.

The case began with an investigation by the Flower Mound Police Department officials noticed an increase in heroin activity last year in the affluent community.

A total of 13 people were arrested on heroin in 2010, Capt. Wess Griffin said.

Flower Mound police were continuing their investigation when the overdose deaths occurred.

Harold Renz, 17, died March 14, 2010. Brett Okeefe, 18, died six days later. Justin Rodriguez, 19, died July 10.

“It’s fair to say that those three overdose deaths provided information that led to the indictments,” Griffin said.

Fears | Nachawati Attorneys & Councelors
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A suspected drunken driver slammed into the rear end of a Northlake police SUV early Thursday, setting off a chain reaction crash that sent the officer and one other person to the hospital in an air ambulance, police said.

The police SUV was stopped at a red light on Highway 377 in Westlake around 3:45 a.m., when a pickup plowed into it at more than 60 mph and pushed it into the intersection of Highway 170.

An 18-wheeler driving on Highway 170 then crashed into the SUV, further injuring the officer and a prisoner who was being driven to Denton County jail for an unrelated crime.

Police said the pickup driver, described as a man in his 20′s, never stopped and appeared to be intoxicated. Investigators found open containers of alcohol in the pickup, said Keller police Lt. Brenda Slovak.

The impact of the initial crash was enough to create an impression of the pickup drivers head in his windshield, Slovak said. But the man, who was not identified, was taken to the hospital with only minor injuries.

Police said charges were pending.

The Northlake officer and his prisoner were flown to Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth with non-life-threatening injuries, police said. The driver of the 18-wheeler was uninjured.

Multi vehicle accidents cause confusion for everyone, the injured, the insurance, the auto accident attorneys, but most importantly you.  Every single day I handle multi vehicle accidents, as a Dallas Wrongful Death attorney I understand that loosing a loved one is the most confusing time in your life.  I can help and want to help.  Call my office at 214 890 0711 or schedule a free consultation through my website customer service team..  We answer 24/7 and have home/hospital consultations.

Fears | Nachawati Attorneys & Councelors
Dallas: 4925 Greenville Avenue Suite 715, Dallas, TX 75206
Phone: (214)890-0711
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