CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – The Clarksville-Montgomery County School System has amended its response to the wrongful death lawsuit filed by the Davis family, adding new legal defenses as both families of the girls killed in the Kenwood Middle School bus crash pursue separate claims against the district and the bus driver.
On March 27, the bus was traveling to a STEM-based student competition in Jackson with 24 students and five adults aboard, according to previous reports. Dashcam video from parents driving behind the bus showed it drifting across the double yellow lines before striking a TDOT dump truck head-on. Two eighth-grade students were killed – Zoe Davis and Arianna Pearson – and several more were critically injured.
Investigations by the Tennessee Highway Patrol and the National Transportation Safety Board remain ongoing. The official cause of the crash has not yet been determined.
Davis family’s lawsuit outlines negligence claims
In April, the Davis family filed a lawsuit against CMCSS and bus driver Sabrina Ducksworth in Carroll County Circuit Court through law firm Morgan & Morgan, according to previous reports. The lawsuit claims Ducksworth was negligent, fatigued, distracted and failed to exercise “due care in operation of the school bus she was driving.” It also states that CMCSS bears responsibility for hiring, training and supervising Ducksworth.
Ducksworth remains on leave during the ongoing investigations. Her personnel file showed no prior disciplinary actions, complaints or accidents, according to previous reports. The file includes multiple standard medical examiner’s certificates showing she met all Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, with her most recent certification valid through February 2027.
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In her January 2024 annual review, a supervisor noted under “needing improvement” to “keep an eye on your attendance,” to which Ducksworth responded that her attendance issues were due to “unforeseen medical issues.”
District disputes fault, cites medical emergency
In June, CMCSS filed its first response through law firm Ogletree Deakins, claiming Ducksworth was not responsible for the crash because she “suffered an unforeseeable sudden loss of consciousness and/or other physical incapacity due to a stroke, cardiovascular failure, or other medical event prior to the collision,” according to previous reports.
The district also cited the Tennessee Governmental Tort Liability Act, arguing most of the Davis family’s claims cannot move forward. Under the statute, CMCSS maintains it is immune from all claims except negligent operation of a motor vehicle, that the family is not entitled to a jury trial, and that damages are capped at $700,000 when combined with other claims arising from the same incident.
In its closing request, the district asked the court to “dismiss plaintiff’s complaint with prejudice, award defendant its costs and attorney’s fees incurred in this action, and award defendant any such other relief that this court deems just and proper.”
Pearson family lawsuit details emotional aftermath
According to legal filings obtained by Clarksville Now, the parents of Arianna filed their own wrongful death lawsuit in May against CMCSS and Ducksworth through The Higgins Firm.
Clarksville Now has attempted to reach The Higgins Firm for comment.
The lawsuit says Arianna “suffered horrific injuries” and was pronounced dead at the scene. Families were sent to a “parent-student reunification site” at First Baptist Church in Huntingdon, where the Pearson family learned of their daughter’s death and was advised to wait to see her until “postmortem reconstruction” could be completed, due to the extent of her injuries.
The filing also describes the family’s “physical pain and suffering” and “emotional injuries and distress” following the crash. It argues Ducksworth failed to “operate the motor vehicle in a careful, reasonable and prudent manner.” The lawsuit claims she is liable for Arianna’s death and all damages resulting from the accident, and that CMCSS is “vicariously liable for all negligent acts.”
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The lawsuit adds that CMCSS “knew or should have known that defendant Ducksworth was unfit and incompetent to operate the school bus.” The family is requesting a jury trial and for $5 million in damages. According to court records, a response has not yet been filed to the Pearson family’s lawsuit.
District adds new defenses in amended filing
On July 1, CMCSS amended its response to the Davis family lawsuit. The amended filing keeps all arguments from the district’s original response but introduces additional defenses.
Clarksville Now attempted to reach Ogletree Deakins for comment.
One new section outlines a comparative fault argument, stating that the “percentage of negligence attributable to Plaintiffs’ decedent was equal to the percentage of negligence attributable to defendant CMCSS because neither party was negligent in proximately causing the accident in question.”
The amended filing also expands on the district’s medical emergency defense, saying the event was “not reasonably foreseeable to a prudent person.” Futhermore, it states Ducksworth did not have “any prior medical or cardiovascular concerns of any type” and had passed all DOT physicals.
CMCSS also asserts the Davis family may not have met required procedural steps before filing the suit, stating: “Pending further discovery, defendant pleads that plaintiffs have failed to meet the administrative prerequisites to filing suit.”
When reached by Clarksville Now, Morgan & Morgan founder John Morgan and attorney Susan Neal Wiley issued the following statement: “The amended answer from CMCSS still does not provide an adequate explanation as to how this tragic incident occurred. Zoe’s family and the other victims and survivors deserve better. Nothing will ever make this community whole again, but Morgan & Morgan is committed to holding CMCSS and anyone else responsible accountable to prevent future tragedies like this from happening again.”
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