Ventura family wins $20 million in wrongful death

On Monday, a Ventura family won $20 million in the largest wrongful death verdict in Ventura County history. It centers around Chris Prewitt’s DUI death back in 2014. The beloved Ventura educator was struck and killed as he was jogging along a street preparing for a marathon.

Photos and memories are all that 12-year-old Izzy Prewitt has left of her father.

“I miss his laugh and his eyes,” said Prewitt. “When you look into them you just see happiness.”

That happiness was taken away April 6, 2014 when Chris Prewitt was hit by a car while jogging along Victoria Avenue near Olives Park in Oxnard.

“The driver pleaded guilty to driving under the influence 10 days later,” said Trevor Quirk, the lawyer representing the Prewitt family.

Oxnard resident Shante Chappell was found guilty of vehicular manslaughter while under the influence of Xanax and marijuana. But Prewitt’s wife, Erin, convinced the court to reduce her sentence despite her crime.

“Bless her heart. Erin asked the criminal court to not sentence the driver to prison because she believed driver was driving under the influence and was fleeing an abusive relationship,” said Quirk,

“I just came off a project of prison realignment and restorative justice and I thought ok this timing has to mean something,” said Erin Prewitt. “For me, what I kept repeating was that this has to have meaning, and so I really pushed for her not to go to prison, because there is a cost involved, the community, and making her potentially more of a criminal.”

Chappell initially agreed to work with Prewitt in restorative justice work. That would involve both women speaking publicly at schools about the dangers of driving under the influence.

Erin’s husband was an assistant principal at the De Anza Academy of Technology and Arts in Ventura at the time of his death. It seemed like the best way to honor her husband. Chappell served 18 months on a reduced prison sentence but once her time was up, the Prewitt family says she was MIA.

“She had probation officers that wanted to work with her, we had the local community colleges offering free services for therapy,” said Erin. “I had thousand of dollars of services and support for her and potentially several jobs and when I told her, ‘OK, here you can have all of this.. The thing you need to do is to tell me what really happened, because your story is not lining up at all.'”

Chappell continued giving the same story: fleeing from an abusive relationship.

“Erin tried that for almost two years and she got a cease and desist letter from the driver and told her to stop trying to contact her… Unbelievable,” said Quirk.

The Prewitt family decided to go back to court, this time, through a civil lawsuit filed back in 2015. Lawyer Trevor Quirk obtained phone calls made while Chappell was in prison and what they discovered was shocking to them.

“We listen to these tapes and it became very clear that she was not actually fleeing from an abusive boyfriend, she was out partying with her friend, coming back from a friend’s house,” said Quirk. “I called Erin and I told her to come into my office and listen to this.”

The trial was continued four times, but on Monday the journey came to an end.

The court awarded the Prewitt family $20 million for the wrongful death of their beloved husband and father.

“I didn’t care much about the money,” said Izzy Prewitt. “I wanted her to understand what she took and how that affects us.”

“We have really worked on healing and living without him, but it is not easy,” said Erin Prewitt. “It is not easy having someone you love and adore and who has your back and then not having them be there and trying to do it without them.”

Chappell relocated to Las Vegas. The family knows it is unlikely they will ever receive the $20 million from Chappell, but they say the lawsuit was about doing right by Chris and bringing out the truth.

“I feel like now that the truth has been told, justice really came home,” said Quirk.