Parents of Student Killed by UConn Fire Vehicle Want Frat Added to Lawsuit

STORRS, CT — The parents of a University of Connecticut student killed after being run over by a fire vehicle on camps last fall want the national and local chapters of the Kappa Sigma fraternity added as defendants in a wrongful death lawsuit against the state and the driver.

Jeffny Pally's parents filed a motion Friday asking that the fraternity chapters be added as defendants, citing the organization as the host of a party Pally had returned from before falling against a fire department garage door, according to an Associated Press story that ran in the Hartford Courant.

The lawsuit cited the fraternity as the host of the Oct. 16 party.

Pally was 19 and lived at 87 Northbrook Drive in West Hartford.

According to police, Pally was sitting with her back against the door of a unit police described as Bay 7 at the UConn Public Safety Complex. At about 1:15 a.m., the fire department received a call at a nearby location.
The call required the UConn Fire Department shift commander, veteran Dana Barrow, to respond in a 2010 Chevrolet Tahoe, parked inside Bay 7, according to a police report.

The door to Bay 7 opened vertically, causing Pally to fall back onto the ground, police said.
As the vehicle exited Bay 7, the right side of the car traveled over Pally and she died as a result, police said.

Video surveillance cameras near the incident show Pally being unsteady on her feet and trying to use a call phone, according to an arrest warrant.

Read more about the incident here.

The fraternity was sanctioned by UConn.

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