Nebraska OKs $575K Settlement in Wrongful Death Claim

The state of Nebraska has agreed to pay $575,000 to settle a wrongful death claim filed by the family of a man killed in a 2012 car crash.

Lexington radio station KRVN reports the settlement involving the estate of Ruben Maravilla-Cortez was approved Thursday and signed by Dawson County Court Judge Jeff Wightman. The settlement does not include an admission of liability from the state.

The 68-year-old Maravilla-Cortez was killed in October 2012 in Lexington when his pickup truck was struck by a vehicle that was being pursued by a Nebraska State Patrol car. The driver of the pursued vehicle, 23-year-old Destry Swartz, was convicted of vehicular manslaughter in the case. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.