HOLMES BEACH, Fla. — The family of a woman hit and killed in a construction zone in Holmes Beach last year has now filed a lawsuit.
Miriam Trotter, 86, was visiting from Maryland with her daughter, Deborah, when they were hit by a truck on May 12, 2023, while just trying to cross the street.
As spring break approaches with its expected heavy pedestrian traffic, the woman's family is not just sounding a warning about safety especially in a construction zone. They have now taken action to sue C-Squared, the company behind that construction to hold them accountable for not securing the construction area properly and effectively.
"My mom was my best friend she was my hero," said Deborah Trotter, the victim's daughter. "She turned anybody down for anything yes was her favorite word."
For Trotter, what she thought was a very mundane task of crossing the street safely with her mother Miriam ended up changing the lives of her family members forever.
"I recall hitting the button at the crosswalk. It turned white with the walk symbol. I remember pointing to it and saying, 'OK Mom, we can cross now', and we stepped off the curb," Trotter said.
The intersection was under construction, but the driver, who was identified as 43-year-old Michael Ritche, also had the green light.
Police records and witnesses said the Trotters were struck by Ritchie's truck as they crossed on Gulf Drive and Miriam died.
"That was last breath right next to me and she was I never spoke to her consciously again," she said.
Trotter said aside from orange cones guiding drivers, there were no other visible warning signs in the area. The ones that were eventually found on the site, in the area where the incident happened, were turned down.
After the incident, the city changed how the lights at their crosswalks function. Whenever the sign comes on for pedestrians to cross all the traffic lights go red.
The driver, though not criminally charged, was later found guilty of failure to yield right of way to pedestrians.
However, the family said that's not enough and is why they are suing C-Squared.
"This is all about the construction that's going on, not just in this area, but all throughout Florida. The contractors really need to start doing their job better," said Douglas McCarron, Trotter family's attorney.
"Even when you do the right thing, sometimes when others do the wrong thing, there's a tragedy in it that can impact you and I don't want that to happen to anybody else and I know that my mom would not either," Trotter said.
The family's attorney tells us C-Squared has yet to respond to the lawsuit. 10 Tampa Bay also reached out to the company for comment and has not heard back.