HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — Two men have agreed to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to the families of three James Madison University students who died in a car crash after a fraternity event. Lawsuits filed by the families allege 28 additional men are still responsible for the three young men’s “foreseeable” deaths.
On the night of February 2, 2023, then 19-year-old Campbell Fortune was driving four men back to JMU’s campus after a Pi Beta Chi (PBX) rush event at a gentlemen’s club in Hardy County, WV, when he crashed into a tree going 95 miles per hours.
Nineteen-year-old John “Luke” Fergusson of Richmond, 19-year-old Nicholas Troutman of Henrico County, and 20-year-old Joshua Mardis of Williamsburg all died at the scene. One other passenger, Baird Weisleder, and the driver, Fortune, were airlifted to the hospital with severe injuries but survived.
Fortune was criminally charged with three counts of negligent homicide, but later accepted a plea deal, against the three families’ wishes, and served 90 days in jail for one count of negligent homicide and speeding…