Deadly Bellevue Crash: Parents File Claim Against State

BELLEVUE, WA - The parents of a woman killed in a 2015 drunk-driving crash here have filed a claim against the state Department of Corrections over her death, alleging the department bears responsibility because the man who caused the crash was mistakenly released early from prison, according to reports.

Lindsay Hill, 35, died after her boyfriend, Robert Jackson, 39, crashed his car into a utility box in the Newport Hills neighborhood in November 2015. Jackson was reportedly drunk and speeding at 80 MPH when he crashed.

Hill's parents, Jane and Craig Noel of Kirkland, filed the claim because Jackson was mistakenly released in August 2015 when he should've been in prison until December of that year. The Noels say that, had Jackson stayed in jail, their daughter probably would never have met him, and would still be alive.

A software problem inside DOC computers caused some 3,000 inmates to be released early since 2002. The state had known about the issue since at least 2012, but didn't address the problem until 2015.

The Noels filed the claim on behalf of Hill's sons, a 14-year-old and an 8-year-old. This is the first legal step in filing a wrongful death suit against the state.

Jackson was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole last year. The crash was his third strike under the state's persistent offender law.

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