Lawsuit targets St. Matthews bar in deadly DUI case

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - A civil lawsuit filed on behalf of the family of a former University of Louisville cheerleader who was killed in a drunk driving crash is resurfacing.

Shanae Moorman’s family is suing Bradley Caraway and a local bar, alleging negligence.

The lawsuit claims Gerstles bar in St. Matthews violated a Kentucky statute that holds bars accountable for over-serving customers.

It has been seven years since the DUI crash that killed former University of Louisville cheerleader Shanae Moorman. Last year, a mistrial was declared a few days into the case after Caraway’s attorney got sick.

Gerstles is the last place both were seen before Caraway’s car crashed on the ramp from I-64 to the Snyder Freeway. Caraway was charged with murder, DUI and leaving the scene of an accident. The jury was tasked with deciding if Caraway was driving the car that crashed on Aug. 6, 2016.

The rollover wreck happened around 3 a.m. On Aug. 6, 2016, on the ramp between Interstate 64 and the Gene Snyder Freeway (I-265). Prosecutors allege Caraway, 42, was driving his Honda sedan under the influence of alcohol.

Moorman, 25, died in the wreck.

Caraway was found three hours after the crash walking on the Gene Snyder Freeway. Police said Caraway appeared drunk, had no shoes or shirt on, and had signs of being involved in a traffic crash.

Moorman’s attorneys said under the statute Gerstles is also responsible for their customers’ actions once they leave the bar. In this case, they claim Gerstles decided to serve Caraway too much alcohol before he got behind the wheel.

Attorneys shared how Moorman’s family has been doing since the criminal case ended.

”Anytime you lose a child, a sibling, a relative, it’s just so traumatic, and then you have to re-live that again in court,” attorney Steve Romines said. “No one ever handles the stress of a trial and being in court well. It is just incredibly difficult and traumatic, especially when you’ve lost a loved one.”

”To sit down with them and have to talk about the legal procedures, and talk about the law, when they’ve lost somebody, a child, and they are grieving, you can imagine the toll it has taken on a family,” attorney John A. DeCamillis said. ”They’ve waited long enough. It is time to put this thing on the fast track so the family can have some closure from this part of it, and uh, put this whole horrific matter behind them.”

WAVE reached out to Gerstles for comment and did not hear back.

The civil case is expected back in court on Nov. 30.

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