Record verdict in hit and run wrongful death case
On October 26, 2017, Leesfield & Partners obtained a $36,960,000 verdict against Defendant Gabriel Fleuricort. The Pereira family obtained a legal victory they would trade for the return of their 16-year-old son, who was killed in a hit and run incident while riding his skateboard to a friend’s house.
The defendant was speeding and swerving through a residential area to pass another car when he hit Cash Pereira from behind with such force that the boy’s body was found 185 feet off the road, into the dirt shoulder.
Immediately after the horrific crash, Gabriel Fleuricort did not stop his car to render aid, he did not call an ambulance to attempt saving the life he took, Instead, he fled, hoping to never be found. Thankfully, it took little time for the police to find the vehicle tucked away in a backyard, and then to find the defendant.
At trial, the defendant did not show. Out of jail in record time, his table remained empty for the entire duration of the trial. Attorneys Justin Shapiro and Adam Rose asked the jury to match the sadness and anger felt by the Pereiras and to return an exemplary verdict. They did.