LISBON — A new visiting judge has been assigned to oversee the wrongful death lawsuit filed against Columbiana County, the sheriff and one deputy over a fatal crash in 2023 involving the pursuit of a driver in a stolen vehicle which hit another vehicle.

Retired Trumbull County Common Pleas Court Judge Andrew D. Logan was recently appointed to the case by the Ohio Supreme Court after retired Wayne County Common Pleas Court Judge Mark Wiest said he no longer wished to continue as the assigned judge.

Both judges in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court recused themselves due to conflicts of interest since the case involves the county, the sheriff and a deputy. Another deputy, Sgt. Brian Deack, was dismissed as a defendant by the plaintiffs.

Gerald Jackson, 42, of Columbiana, who’s also named as a defendant in the lawsuit, was the driver sentenced to prison for 15 years nine months for causing the death of Jennifer Hunley and injuring her son when he crashed a stolen vehicle after being pursued by a sheriff’s deputy in 2023.

Jackson was sentenced in 2024 for charges of first-degree felony aggravated vehicular homicide, second-degree felony aggravated vehicular assault, third-degree felony failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer, fourth-degree felonies of grand theft of a motor vehicle and two counts of receiving stolen property, fifth-degree felony vandalism and misdemeanor operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, a drug of abuse or a combination of them. Besides receiving prison time, his driver’s license was suspended for life.

Joseph Leone, administrator of Hunley’s estate, Crestview Road, Leetonia, and Robert Crozier, custodial parent of Daryn Crozier, Hunley’s minor son, Jacobsburg, filed the complaint in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court against Jackson, Columbiana County, care of county Prosecutor Vito Abruzzino, Columbiana County Sheriff Brian McLaughlin, Deputy Robert Vukovich who was pursuing Jackson, and Deack.

Prosecutors alleged that Jackson was involved in a three-county crime spree when he crashed a stolen Chevy Silverado and hit Hunley’s vehicle head-on, seriously injuring both her and her son, who was 11 at the time. Hunley, who was 47, died from her injuries on Sept. 18, 2023.

The lawsuit made claims of misconduct by Jackson, and misconduct by the Columbiana County employees named in the complaint as defendants due to the pursuit, alleging the pursuit was at speeds in excess of the policy permitted by the county’s pursuit standards on roads that were wet, slippery, narrow and twisting. Monetary damages are being sought.

An answer recently filed to the complaint by the legal team for the county, McLaughlin and Vukovich said the “accident occurred well after any pursuit had been terminated and at a time when Jackson was driving at or near the speed limit and was no longer under pursuit. Defendants further aver that the accident occurred as a result of Jackson being significantly impaired and under the effects of fentanyl, methamphetamine, and other illegal controlled substances.”

The defense team for the county, sheriff and deputy denied allegations of their actions being wanton or reckless or a result of improper training, improper application of written policies, improper paper work or the absence of a supervisor on a Sunday afternoon. They denied the allegations and said they are entitled to immunity.

According to the schedule, the case is set for a jury trial at 8:30 a.m. Feb. 8, 2027.