A Brooklyn woman whose son was killed by a subway train while wandering on the tracks is suing the MTA for $50 million, claiming it did not thoroughly search for him before the accident. Â Read the full story after the jump!
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Marva Nelson says the MTA should have shut down the entire line and done a thorough search after a token clerk reported that her son had jumped onto the tracks.
Instead, transit workers searched for just 40 minutes, using an out-of-service train, and gave an all-clear when they didn’t find Rowe, she contends.
About two hours after Rowe was reported on the tracks, he was struck and killed by a northbound No. 5 train heading into the Newkirk Ave. station.
“They said they took 40 minutes to search for him, but when somebody is dead, they take six hours to close down the station,†said Nelson. “I can’t get past that. That one hurts me so much.â€
Nelson’s lawyer said the MTA should have sent workers out on foot to search for Rowe.
“This is alarming and shocking,†said attorney Roger Archibald. “If proper protocols were enforced, it is our view that Briant would still be alive today.â€
A 24-year-old banker from East Flatbush, Rowe jumped on the tracks at 5:49 a.m. on Nov. 19, according to a police report.
He was killed at 7:33 a.m., the report states.
Clutching a photo of her son, Nelson said she is heartbroken.
“Every day I wake up and it seems like if I’m reliving the whole thing all over again,†said Nelson. “Briant was a loving child. He cared so much for me.â€
“It feels as if part of my heart has been ripped out with him. I don’t know how I’m going to live the rest of my life without him.â€
Rowe had been partying in Manhattan with buddies from the Omega Psi Phi fraternity before he was killed, relatives said. They insist he had no history of substance abuse or mental illness.
Source Daily News
