1/17/13 - Another defendant has been dismissed from a lawsuit filed by the family of a Milford man who drowned in 2011 while trying to save a teen from the Huron River. The suit, filed last year in Oakland County Circuit Court by the estate of Douglas Killingbeck, seeks damages in excess of $25,000 for each count. It claimed the Village of Milford, Milford Township, the Huron-Clinton Metropolitan Authority and the Village Canoe Rental in Milford failed to provide adequate warning and fencing near the Huron River dam in Milford. Thatâs where Killingbeck died May 21st of 2011 while trying to save 16-year-old John Przydatek, whose canoe had capsized while on a church trip organized by Knox Presbyterian Church, which was also named in the lawsuit for allegedly failing to properly supervise the outing and insist the teenager wear a life jacket. Both Killinbeck and Przydatek were pulled below the surface and drowned. Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Phyllis McMillen previously granted a request from Milford Township to be dropped from the case after they argued they werenât liable in the case because of governmental immunity. Last week, she also granted a similar request for the Huron-Clinton Metropolitan Authority. That leaves just Milford, Village Canoe Rental and the Knox Presbyterian Church as defendants, although a request by the village to be dropped is pending. The case is scheduled to go to trial in June of this year. (JK)
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