Drivers Nininger, Dupree sued again in crash

The driver of a tractor involved in the fatal wreck has filed a lawsuit against Tracie Nininger and Jeffrey Dupree for $1.7 million.

By Mike Allen
981-3236

Two people convicted of causing the death of a construction worker in a 2008 drunken driving crash face a new lawsuit stemming from the wreck.

The driver of a tractor involved in the Feb. 20, 2008, chain-reaction crash that killed Richard Slone has sued former real estate agents Tracie Dowell Nininger and Jeffrey Scott Dupree for $1.7 million.

The wreck happened just after midnight. James Harmon was operating a tractor in a construction zone along Electric Road near Tanglewood Mall when Nininger's Hummer H3 struck a blade mounted on the rear of the tractor. Almost simultaneously, Dupree's Chevrolet Avalanche struck the rear of the Hummer.

Harmon's lawsuit, filed last week in Roanoke County Circuit Court, says he sustained serious injuries from the impact, including brain damage.

The Hummer and the tractor blade struck a nearby dump truck, killing Slone, who was standing beside the truck.

A Roanoke County judge found Nininger and Dupree guilty of aggravated involuntary manslaughter and driving under the influence in the fatal wreck and sentenced each to serve two and a half years in prison. Both have filed notices of appeal.

Slone's family filed a $10 million lawsuit against the pair in March. Nininger and Dupree have both requested that the trial be moved because of the intense media attention the case received.

During the criminal trial in October, roanoke criminal defense lawyers claimed that failure on the part of the construction crew to follow regulations caused the accident. Dupree's attorney at the time, Richard Lawrence, even stated in court that Harmon should have faced a criminal charge. The defense claimed that Harmon backed his tractor into the traffic lane in front of Nininger, giving her no time to react.

In that lawsuit, Nininger has filed a response calling the wreck "the result of a sudden emergency and an unavoidable accident." In documents filed by her new attorney, Tennessee lawyer Christopher Owens, she assigns blame for the accident to Harmon and other personnel and companies associated with the construction site and with how the site was set up.

Owens has not yet seen Harmon's lawsuit but said he expects Nininger's response to it would be similar.

Dupree's attorney, Sean Workowski, also said he had not yet seen the suit.

Harmon's attorney, Brent Brown, said Dupree and Nininger have played the blame game. "They don't seem to get it. They don't appear to accept responsibility for their actions. It appears it's not enough that a circuit judge has found them criminally culpable," he said.

Police said Nininger had a blood-alcohol content of 0.19 percent that night. Dupree refused to take a breath test but failed a field sobriety check, according to testimony.

Harmon's lawsuit describes them both as "stumbling drunk" and repeatedly refers to a video from Cornerstone Bar & Grill shown during their trial in which they embraced and fell to the floor.

"We just look forward to bringing some true accountability before a jury of Roanoke citizens," Brown said.