Megan Rondini lawsuit can proceed, state supreme court rules: Former Alabama student died in suicide after alleged rape
The lawsuit against a man from a prominent Tuscaloosa family in the death of Megan Rondini, a former college student who killed herself after alleging she was raped, can move forward, according to an Alabama Supreme Court ruling issued Friday.
Rondini was a UA student from Texas when she reported to police she was raped by T.J. Bunn in 2015.
Bunn worked at ST Bunn Construction Company, which is across the street from the Innisfree Pub, where Rondini reportedly became drunk, or was drugged, before being raped for 30 minutes in July of that year.
Rondini’s story became public in a June 2017 BuzzFeed story, as told by her parents, family and friends.
Bunn had filed a motion in federal court saying that because Rondini took her own life, that automatically prevented him from being liable in her death.
In the Supreme Court ruling, it says the federal court had concluded that Rondini’s family had produced substantial evidence that Bunn had sexually assault her, said Rondini attorney Leroy Maxwell of Birmingham law firm Maxwell Tillman.
The Supreme Court, however, said if someone hurts someone intentionally and they commit suicide, the assailant can still be held responsible for her wrongful death. “They literally did exactly what we asked the court to do and cited the exact case law from our brief,’’ Maxwell said. “This is a huge day for her family, an emotional, big day for them.”
Fuente de la Información: https://www.al.com/news/2021/05/megan-rondini-lawsuit-can-proceed-state-supreme-court-rules-former-alabama-student-died-in-suicide-after-alleged-rape.html