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‘Midnight Rider’ Director Reaches Settlement In Sarah Jones’ Wrongful Death Lawsuit

By Niki Cruz
Published on: 18:22 PST, Nov 19, 2014

The director and producers behind the film Midnight Rider, a biopic on Greg Allman, which took crew member Sarah Jones’ life, have finally reached a settlement with Jones’ family.

According to Deadline, the lawyer for Jones’ family released a statement, saying that director Randall Miller and Miller’s wife and producer, Jody Savin, have reached a final agreement in the lawsuit.

As the Inquisitr reported, Sarah Jones sadly perished while setting up a shot during production by a train in Georgia. Producers didn’t clear when the train was going to run on the trestle, and so members of the crew, including Sarah had to scramble to the edge of the trestle for cover. Jones died while trying to move the expensive camera equipment off of the trestle.

In October, footage was released of the accident that took Jones’ life. Jones parents’ attorney, Jeff Harris explained the disturbing footage that was showed during 20/20’s report.

“The train hits the bed and the bed flies up and apparently a portion of the hospital bed strikes Sarah and pushes her into the train.”

Joyce Gilliard, a friend of Sarah’s and hairstylist on set, was also injured. She recalled the scene to 20/20 for their special report on Sarah’s case.

“You didn’t know it was her. At first it was like a quiet, like people were in shock at what happened,” Gilliard said. “I remember hearing somebody say ‘Oh my gosh, she’s dead.'”

Earlier Harris released a statement about the lawsuit. The agreement reached between the parties is confidential. Those named in the suit include “Miller, Savin, their Unclaimed Freight production company, location manager Charles Baxter, unit production manager/executive producer Jay Sedrish and Jay Sedrish Inc, executive producer and financier Don Mandrick, first assistant director Hillary Schwartz, director of photography Mike Ozier, Epozier Films Inc and landowner Rayonier Performance Fibers Llc.”

According to Harris, Sarah Jones’ parents still want “to find out what happened on the day of their daughter’s death, determine who was responsible, hold those who made bad decisions accountable and ensure this kind of tragedy never happens again on another film set. Today, we are another step closer to fully achieving those objectives.”

Director Randall Miller and wife Jody Savin still face involuntary manslaughter charges and criminal trespassing. That specific trial is slated to start on March 9.

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