Family Sues Truck Driver, Employer in Missouri Girl’s Death

Relatives of an 8-year-old girl who was struck and killed by a tractor-trailer as she crossed a southwest Missouri road to board a school bus have filed a wrongful death lawsuit.

The Joplin Globe reports that relatives of Destiny Chambers filed the lawsuit Tuesday against 49-year-old Lance Lee, of DeKalb, Illinois, and his employer.

Lee pleaded not guilty Thursday to one count of leaving the scene of last week's crash in Joplin. The suit says Lee drove at an excessive speed and that his employer knew he was a reckless driver.

Lee told police he thought he hit a mailbox. Lee also told police that he told his trucking company he hit a deer because hitting a mailbox was a chargeable accident and he would have lost time.