Tracy Morgan settles suit with Wal-Mart over fatal crash

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Actor-comedian Tracy Morgan has settled his lawsuit against Wal-Mart over a New Jersey highway crash that killed one man and left Morgan and two friends seriously injured.

A filing in federal court in Newark on Wednesday refers to a confidential settlement reached by the two sides.

Morgan’s lawyer hasn’t responded to a message seeking comment.

Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. calls it an “amicable settlement.” Details haven’t been disclosed.

A Wal-Mart truck slammed into the back of a limo van carrying Morgan and the others back from a show in Delaware last June. Comedian James “Jimmy Mack” McNair was killed. Morgan suffered head trauma, a broken leg and broken ribs.

Wal-Mart reached a settlement with McNair’s two children in January.

The truck driver, Kevin Roper, of Jonesboro, Georgia, faces several criminal charges, including death by auto, in state court. He has pleaded not guilty. He wasn’t a defendant in Morgan’s federal lawsuit.

Morgan suffered what his lawyer, Benedict Morelli, has referred to as a traumatic brain injury. Morelli said in March that Morgan wasn’t fully recovered but was “working very hard to get better, physically, emotionally and mentally.” Morgan had hoped to attend the 40th anniversary show of “Saturday Night Live” in February but was unable to.

Passengers Ardley Fuqua, of Jersey City, New Jersey, and Jeffrey Millea, of Shelton, Connecticut, also suffered serious injuries in the June crash and were plaintiffs in the lawsuit against Wal-Mart.

According to the criminal complaint, Roper was operating the truck without having slept for more than 24 hours.

A preliminary investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board estimated that Roper was driving 65 mph in the minute before he slammed into Morgan’s limo van on the New Jersey Turnpike. The speed limit on that stretch of the turnpike is 55 mph and was lowered to 45 mph that night because of construction.

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