Wrongful Death Lawsuits May Be Filed Against Those Facing Criminal Charges May 1, 2011.

If negligence causes someone’s death, his or her family may file a wrongful death lawsuit even if the defendant faces criminal charges.

For instance, in 2009, a 38-year-old man’s wife called police to report that he hadn’t returned home after a company function.

When police arrived at the trucking company, they found the man’s car in the office parking lot, but he was nowhere to be found. The man’s co-workers began searching the building and found his dead body on the second floor.

Later, police learned that the man had gone to work that day to discuss the presentation schedule for that day’s seminar with a co-worker, who shot him at point-blank range. The man was arrested and charged with first-degree murder.

The victim’s wife filed a wrongful death lawsuit against her husband’s killer to help the family get on with their lives and pay expenses, such as burial costs.