The widow of a woman who died when the stage collapsed before a concert at the Indiana State Fair has filed the first wrongful death lawsuit following the fatal accident. The stage fell on waiting concertgoers just moments before Sugarland was scheduled to perform when a big gust came through the fairgrounds. Seven people have died and forty people were sent to the hospital with serious injuries.

The woman's partner is suing Indiana and the three companies that organized and constructed the stage (Live Nation, Mid-America Sound Corp., and Live 360 Group) for $50 million. She blames the state for not canceling the concert after reports of severe weather surfaced and the private companies for building a stage without permits or inspection. The defendant also suffered permanent debilitating injuries after the stage crushed her shoulder and leg, forcing doctors to amputate several toes.

This case could also lead to a landmark gay rights decision if the Indiana courts award settlement benefits to the woman's wife. Since the state does not recognize gay marriage, the settlement benefits would go to next of kin since the woman is not legally considered her spouse.

The family of a North Carolina, 17 year-old boy that was killed after he was tasered in 2008 was awarded $10 million by a federal jury. The teenager went into cardiac arrest after a police officer tased him twice in the chest for 37 seconds and then 5 seconds.

Police were called to the grocery store where he worked when he got into an argument with the manager. According to court documents, there were no threats or violence from the teenager.

In the family's wrongful death lawsuit, it claimed Taser International did not properly provide adequate warning and training to Charlotte police. With proper training, the family believes the officer would have known the dangers of tasering an individual on the chest.

A 28-year-old man from Nashville died on Tuesday from injuries he sustained during a fire at his workplace, John W. McDougall, Co., a sheet metal plant in Nashville.

The fire started over the weekend and injured two workers, including the man who died. It is not clear what started the fire, and the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Division will be investigating the fire, along with Nashville's Fire Marshal.

Following the fire, the 28-year-old man was taken to Vanderbilt University Hospital, where he died from his injuries. Today, the worker who was injured, a 26-year-old man, was reported as being in stable condition.

Our thoughts and sympathies are with the friends and family of the man who died in this fire and with the man still recovering from his injuries.

A South Carolina man who was employed by Lowe's home improvement store in Charlotte, North Carolina, was killed on Sunday while working in a warehouse that was adjacent to the store.

According to reports, the 35-year-old man was working on an unknown project at around 10:30 a.m. in the store's warehouse where customers are not allowed for safety reasons. A garage door attached to the warehouse somehow fell on top of the man's head and he died shortly after of head trauma.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration will be investigating the accident to determine what caused the garage door to fall.

Our thoughts and sympathies are with the friends and family of the man who died in this accident.

In Lewisville, Texas, 20 miles outside of Dallas, a park-and-ride transit area was under construction. Early Thursday morning, according to The Dallas Morning News, the Denton County Transportation Authority says, "says the boom on aconcrete pumping truck collapsed onto the four workers." 

The collapse killed two workers. The other two were injured, but their injuries were reportedly not life-threatening. The Transportation Authority has halted construction. They say the area will remain closed until a thorough investigation into this deadly construction accident is conducted.

An early morning crash in Windsor, S.C. resulted in the death of an unidentified woman at around 6:15 a.m. on Tuesday. The accident occurred on Stillwater road, when the woman's vehicle overturned after hitting a dirt shoulder. South Carolina Highway Patrol officials believe that the woman was heading North in her Chevy pickup truck when the accident occurred.

Accidents can have a devastating effect on your life and the lives of your loved one. If someone you love has been killed in an accident caused by a road defect, contact the Charleston wrongful death lawyers of the Steinberg Law Firm at  843-720-2800 today.