Photo: Getty Images
LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Attorneys for a 29-year-old former cast member of the reality show "Ink Master" state in court papers that their client acknowledges responsibility in the 2020 traffic accident death of a YouTube star and that the upcoming trial of a civil suit brought by the decedent's parents should focus only on damages.
Simon La Barrie and Lissa Burton, the father and mother of Corey La Barrie, brought the complaint in May 2020 in Los Angeles Superior Court against Daniel Joseph Silva and Daniel Silva Tattoos LLC. Silva's 2020 McLaren 600 LT crashed into a tree about 9:40 p.m. May 10, 2020, at Huston Street and Carpenter Avenue in Valley Village, killing the 25-year-old La Barrie, according to police.
Police said Silva left the vehicle and tried to leave the scene, but was stopped by citizens who came to render aid. Silva pleaded no contest in July 2020 to a felony count of gross vehicular manslaughter and was sentenced the next month to a year in jail, five years probation, 250 hours of community service and a suspended prison sentence of four years.
"Defendant Daniel Silva does not dispute that he owed a duty to operate his vehicle in reasonable manner so as not to cause harm to others, (that he) breached that duty by losing control of his vehicle and causing a collision and (that he) caused the tragic, untimely death of his friend, Corey La Barrie," Silva's attorneys state in court papers filed Monday with Judge Michael E. Whitaker.
The trial of the wrongful death suit, scheduled to start March 22, should be limited to the jury's determination of La Barrie's parents' damages, according to Silva's attorneys' court papers.
La Barrie's parents allege that Silva was driving at "an extremely high speed" and that the North Hollywood resident failed to use reasonable care while driving the sports car. The plaintiffs further allege that Silva was drunk at the time from alcohol provided by Daniel Silva Tattoos and that he had a previous drunken driving conviction, making him aware of the dangers of driving in such a condition.
La Barrie's parents have been forced to pay for burial and funeral expenses for their son and have lost his love, companionship and financial support, according to the plaintiffs.