MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The civil suit involving a Winfield man who was convicted in the hit-and-run that resulted in the death of Carli Sears begins Tuesday.
Alexander Hambrick, 22, served 10 months in the Anthony Correctional Center for youthful offenders, served six months home confinement, is on probation for seven years, will serve 200 hours of community service, and will pay monthly towards $15,000 restitution owed.
But now, nearly three years after Carli Sears was struck by an admittedly intoxicated Hambrick, the civil case finally comes before a judge.
Sears was pronounced dead early in the morning of Jan. 17, 2016 after the accident with Hambrick.
Hambrick, who pleaded guilty to DUI with death and leaving the scene of an accident with death, was a WVU student at the time of the hit-and-run. Sears, a Charleston native, was an Ole Miss student. She was visiting friends during the extended break for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
The Sears family is arguing, among other things, that Hambrick was negligent in operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol. They are asking for punitive damages be awarded for the expected loss of income of Carli Sears, reasonably expected services, expenses for care, treatment, and the hospitalization of Sears, funeral expenses, and the pain and suffering and emotional distress caused by the accident.
At the time of the accident, Sears was walking with friend Madeleine E. Wymer, who also filed suit in January against Hambrick.