LOUISVILLE, Ky. — After nearly eight months, a Jefferson Circuit judge has dropped a lawsuit filed by the family of Madelynn Troutt, the 17-year-old teenager who died after a driver hit her car head-on in March 2021.
This week, Judge Ann Bailey Smith said the suit accusing the Bail Project of negligently playing a role in Troutt's death doesn't hold merit.
In Feb. 2021, the bail project posted Michael DeWitt's $5,000 bond on charges of stealing a car and public intoxication, among others. Just days later, police said DeWitt stole another car and while under the influence of drugs, drove head on into Troutt killing her.
In the lawsuit, Troutt's family claimed the Bail Project should have reviewed DeWitt's criminal history and known the risks before bonding him out of jail.
The judge said pinning the responsibility on the Bail Project goes too far.
In the order, she writes:
"The question comes down to whether posting another person's bond gives rise to a duty to either investigate the person's suitability for release or a duty to monitor the person's activities afterward. Kentucky law is clear that the answer to this question is no."
Smith goes on to say the district judge who originally set DeWitt's bond didn't make any conditions that said otherwise. The ruling states the district judge found DeWitt wasn't likely to be a danger to the public if released.
Shameka Parrish-Wright, who worked for the Bail Project at the time of the incident, was named in the lawsuit. She tells WHAS11 while she's heartbroken for the family, the organization is not to blame.
"She was so beautiful, and no one wants this to happen to anyone, and I think the community feels and knows that, but we have to make sure we're being clear and we're using logic to make sure we understand the whole situation," Parrish-Wright said. "Mr. DeWitt's grandmother could have paid his bail - there was no way to [have] foreseen what happened. He is the lone person who's responsible for what happened to Madelynn."
She says regardless of the lawsuit's result, there are no winners.
"Nobody wanted this tragedy. Definitely a lose-lose situation," she said.
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We spoke off camera with the Troutt family Wednesday and asked for a response. They turned it over to their attorney, and we're waiting to hear back.
Earlier this year, the Troutt family was in Frankfort in support of a bill that would limit how much "charitable bail organizations" could post, capping them at $5,000 for any given person in custody. The Kentucky House passed "Madelynn's Law," as it's called, but it was soon after tabled and will await state Senate approval during the 2023 session.
The Bail Project sent us this statement in response to the judge's ruling:
"We are heartened that the judge has dismissed the case. Madelynn Troutt’s death was an unimaginable tragedy. But this lawsuit was misguided. The fact is that bail is set for one reason: to ensure a person returns to court for future hearings. The Bail Project is a nonprofit that has helped thousands of Louisvillians who are too poor to afford bail. Our efforts allow people to continue to work and care for their families while awaiting trial and keep the jail from becoming overcrowded with people who have not yet been convicted.”
As of Wednesday evening, DeWitt remains in custody at Louisville Metro Corrections. He's charged with murder.