Settlement for Girl Hurt in Crash Set at $34 Million

A 10-year-old Los Angeles girl who lost an arm and a leg in a high-speed highway accident that killed her sister four years ago has won a $34-million settlement.

Julie Goodwin Alatorre will receive the money in escalating installments. Her attorney, Mario Diaz, said the agreement guarantees that the girl will be cared for the rest of her life. It also stipulates that Alatorre’s family will receive about $9 million if she dies prematurely.

“It’s a substantial amount,” Diaz said. “But she is being compensated for her medical, psychological and therapeutic needs. . . . There is also some money for pain and suffering.”

The settlement was reached with Transport Insurance Co. of Dallas. The company’s assistant general counsel, Cynthia Campbell, said Alatorre will be paid $4,000 a month, plus lump installments of $250,000 to $1 million every five to seven years after she reaches adulthood.

Annuity Established

The money will come out of a $1.8-million annuity established in Alatorre’s name. Campbell said the payments will continue for the next 67 years, when Alatorre reaches the age of 77.

“It is structured that way to save money,” Campbell said. “It’s not like someone wrote her a check for $34 million. This is a common way to do things when children are involved.”

Alatorre’s injuries occurred in 1983. Her family was traveling from Los Angeles to Texas for the Christmas holidays when a speeding tractor-trailer rig slammed into the back of their pickup truck on an Arizona highway. The camper shell that covered the back of the pickup was severed in the accident and Alatorre and her brother and sister, who were riding in the back, were thrown from the truck.

Alatorre lost her right leg and left arm in the accident, which killed her 12-year-old sister. The remaining passengers, including her mother, brother and uncle, escaped serious injury.

Wrongful Death Settlement

Diaz said the Alatorre family has already reached a $450,000 wrongful death settlement with Transport Insurance, which represented Los Angeles-Yuma Freight Lines in the case. He said that Alatorre is reasonably well adjusted to her injuries, considering their severity. She has recently transferred from a handicapped school to a regular elementary school.

“She’s doing well, and she seems to have coped with her injuries quite well,” Diaz said. “She has a left arm prosthesis, but she lost her entire right leg up to the pelvis, so it’s difficult for her to be fitted with a prosthesis right now, but maybe when she gets older.”

Diaz said the terms of the agreement will be finalized by the court fairly soon.