This Mississippi mom hit by an 18-wheeler on I-10 just won a big jury verdict

Greenwood Motor Lines Inc. must pay almost $3 million to a single mother of three badly injured when an 18-wheeler rear-ended her on Interstate 10 near Gautier.

A jury in U.S. District Court in Gulfport originally awarded more than $4 million to Ylonda Woullard of State Line over the accident in November 2015. Woullard, who at the time worked as a painter at Ingalls Shipbuilding, was headed east on I-10 when the truck behind her failed to slow down and rear-ended her vehicle.

She was left with injuries to her neck and back that required multiple surgeries and have limited her physical activity.

At the end of a four-day trial, the jury found that truck driver Curtis Harris Jr. and the trucking company caused the accident through negligence. Woulard was represented by John Satcher II of Jackson.

U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden lowered the jury’s original award based on a state cap the Legislature imposed for noneconomic damages.

Anita Lee

Sun Herald

601-909-0638

Anita, a Mississippi native, graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Southern Mississippi and previously worked at the Jackson Daily News and Virginian-Pilot, joining the Sun Herald in 1987. She specializes in in-depth coverage of government, public corruption, transparency and courts. She has won state, regional and national journalism awards, most notably contributing to Hurricane Katrina coverage awarded the 2006 Pulitzer Prize in Public Service. Support my work with a digital subscription