Navajo family sues restaurant over drunken driving deaths

Wednesday, April 23, 2014  

A family from the Navajo Nation is suing an Applebee’s restaurant in New Mexico for the deaths of two sisters.

Deshauna Peshlakai, 17, and Del Lynn Peshlakai, 19, were killed on March 5, 2010, when their family's vehicle was rear-ended by convicted drunken driver James Ruiz. They say the restaurant is at fault because Ruiz consumed alcohol there before the accident.

The trial into the wrongful death lawsuit began in federal court on Monday. A similar lawsuit was settled with another restaurant where Ruiz had been drinking.

Ruiz is serving a 42-year sentence for vehicular homicide. He pleaded guilty in state court.

The accident occurred in Santa Fe. The family had attended a basketball game at Santa Fe Indian School before they were hit.

Get the Story:
Applebee’s DWI death trial begins (The Albuquerque Journal 4/23)

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