A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed in Randolph County Circuit Court by the daughter of a woman who was fatally struck by a pickup truck while crossing a street at the conclusion of the opening night of last year’s Red Bud Firemen’s Picnic .

The Eva Buch, daughter of the late Kimberly Ann Martin, 56, of Red Bud, is seeking a judgement in excess of $50,000 in the six-count lawsuit that names Jayden D. Ethington, the Red Bud Fire Company and Dieterich Bank as defendants.

Police said that shortly after 11:20 p.m. Friday, June 23, at the intersection of South Main Street/Route 3 and South First Street, a Ford F150 driven by Ethington, of Sparta, who was 20 at the time, was pulling out of a public parking lot in the wrong direction and struck Martin, who was crossing the street.

Martin was rushed to Red Bud Regional Hospital, then airlifted toward a St. Louis hospital. However, she succumbed to her injuries during the helicopter flight. For Martin’s obituary, click here.

Ethington was later charged with aggravated DUI (causing injury/death), which is a Class 2 felony.

The lawsuit, filed by attorney Ryan Rich of the Centralia law firm Wham & Wham Lawyers on behalf of Buch, is for wrongful death and Survival Act against both Ethington and the Red Bud Fire Company, and the Dram Shop Act against both the Red Bud Fire Company and Dieterich Bank.

The suit alleges that Ethington attended the firemen’s picnic “either as a visitor or worker for the fire company” and parked his truck in the public lot. Martin attended the picnic with her grandson, also parking in the public lot.

Shortly after the carnival rides closed at about 11 p.m., the suit states that Martin delivered her grandson to his father at the picnic. Martin then attempted to walk from the picnic to her parked vehicle in the lot at about 11:20 p.m., walking past barricades preventing eastbound traffic at the intersection of South First Street and South Main Street/Route 3. She was then struck by a vehicle driven by Ethington, who failed to see her crossing the roadway.

“After realizing he had struck something, (Ethington) placed his vehicle in reverse,” the lawsuit claims. “As he was backing up, (Ethington) ran over Martin a second time.”

The counts against Ethington allege that he was driving under the influence of alcohol and while using an electronic communications device.

The counts against the Red Bud Fire Company allege that it permitted and/or encouraged pedestrian traffic “to traverse a poorly illuminated intersection” that lacked a crosswalk, traffic control device or signals and failed to “provide a safe means of ingress and egress” to and from the picnic to the parking lot. The fire company also allegedly sold, served or gave Ethington alcohol that resulted in him becoming intoxicated.

The count against Dieterich Bank alleges that as a sponsor of the picnic, its “servants, agents or employees” sold, served or gave Ethington alcohol.

On Feb. 5, attorneys for Dieterich Bank filed a motion to dismiss its involvement in the suit. In its filing, these attorneys state that the Dram Shop Act doesn’t apply to the bank, which “did not hold a liquor license, did not sell liquor to Ethington or any patron of the picnic, and was not in the business of selling alcohol and did not profit from alcohol sales.”

Dieterich Bank’s dismissal filing further states that picnic patrons presented IDs and purchased tokens from a stand run by non-bank volunteers, after which these patrons could use the tokens at several different beer and alcohol stands. Dieterich Bank employees staffed just one beer tent at the picnic with its logo. At that same tent were firefighters and non-bank volunteers, the filing claims.

Dieterich Bank only provided volunteers to take tokens from patrons after they were already ID’d and had paid for the tokens, this filing states, and the plaintiff is not able to establish that any person affiliated with the bank dispersed or sold liquor to Ethington.

A hearing on the bank’s motion to dismiss is set for the morning of March 12 at the Randolph County Courthouse in Chester with Judge Jeremy Walker presiding.