EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Evansville will pay a $1.75 million settlement to the woman whose family was killed in a 2017 police chase.
The settlement was approved Monday by the Evansville City Council with the money coming from the city’s insurance carrier.
The woman receiving the money, Janae Carter, filed the lawsuit in 2018. That lawsuit says that Carter’s two children were killed from the driver evading police and negligence from the police chasing him.
The chase began when Evansville police clocked that the license plate from the car Frederick McFarland belonged to a separate car. While attempting to pull him over, McFarland fled and crashed into the car of the Carter was in.
Janae Carter’s children, 7-month-old Prince and 2-year-old Princess, were killed in that crash. Prince was ejected from the car and pronounced dead at the scene, while Princess died after being taken to the hospital. The father of the children, Terence Barker, died one month later from his injuries.
Janae was pregnant at the time and was taken to the hospital after suffering serious injuries, but she and her baby survived.
After the accident, McFarland was arrested for resisting police.
The settlement amount was for damages including medical costs, suffering, and the loss of her children. Evansville Police Department released a statement on Tuesday denying any liability…
“The Plaintiffs and the City have settled the lawsuit. The City denies that it was negligent or that it contributed in any way to the injuries suffered by Janae Carter or the deaths of Terence Barker, Princess Carter and Prince Carter. During discovery in this lawsuit, evidence confirmed that Janae Carter and Terence Barker were both wearing their seatbelts and that their children, Princess and Prince Carter, were both child seat and seatbelt restrained when their vehicle was struck by Frederick McFarland. In 2020, Mr. McFarland pled guilty to causing Ms. Carter’s injuries and the deaths of Mr. Barker, Princess and Prince. Mr. McFarland is currently serving time in an Indiana prison as a result of his conviction; he settled with Plaintiff and was dismissed from this lawsuit in 2018.”
