Randall Rolison

The estate of a man who died weeks after being involved in a fatal car crash that also claimed the life of an Arkwright woman two years ago has filed a lawsuit against the two drivers, even though one of them is currently behind bars.

On Dec. 3, 2022, Randall Rolison, who was 59 years old at the time, was traveling on Center Road in the town of Arkwright when he failed to stop at a stop sign and collided with a pick up truck driven by Gary Kraemer. Kraemer’s wife, Linda, was a passenger and died in the automobile accident.

Rolison was taken into custody after being released by the hospital. He eventually pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide in Linda’s death. At the same time he pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter after hitting and killing high school pedestrian Lexi Hughan of Jamestown on Dec. 31, 2021 while under the influence of drugs.

Rolison was sentenced in February to between 13 and 40 years in prison. The 40-year sentence is most allowed by law for what he pleaded guilty to.

In the Arkwright accident, State Police said at the time of the crash that there were two other passengers in Rolison’s vehicle, but didn’t identify them. The news release issued Dec. 5, 2022 stated, “Rolison and both passengers in his vehicle were treated for non-life-threatening injuries.”

On Nov. 26, a lawsuit was filed in state Supreme Court against Rolison and Kraemer, the surviving spouse of Linda.

Kitty Crow is listed as the temporary public administrator of the Estate of Josh A. Moore. William Mattar, P.C. is the attorney. Public administrators are used when there’s no one else to act or when survivors are unable or unwilling to act.

The lawsuit alleges that Moore “suffered and sustained serious injuries” in the accident and later died on Dec. 23, 2022, which would have been 20 days after the crash.

This is the first time Moore’s name has been made public.

District Attorney Jason Schmidt confirmed this week that his office knew about Moore’s death. He was in the front passenger seat, while Josh Moore’s wife was also a rear passenger in Rolison’s vehicle.

Schmidt’s office did not issue any charges against Rolison after Moore had died in connection to his death. Schmidt said it was unconfirmed if Moore died as a result of the accident. There were allegations of drug use and Moore had checked himself out of the hospital to live with his sister, dying about a week later.

Schmidt also said they had filed charges against Rolison for Linda’s death and adding any charges would not have resulted in additional time behind bars.

According to the lawsuit, “That by reason of the foregoing and the wrongful death of the decedent, Josh A. Moore, the survivors and those entitled to inherit under the Estate of Josh A. Moore have been damaged and are entitled to compensatory damages against the Defendants in an amount in excess of the jurisdictional limits of all lower Courts, together with interest therein from the decedent’s date of death.”