Mother of bus accident victim files suit

By Mark Boxley
of The Daily Time Staff

Melissa Dawn Nelams was 42 years old when she died in an accident on East Lamar Alexander Parkway on March 26, and she left two children behind.

Now her mother, Betty L. Kuykendall, Knoxville, is suing the driver and owner of the school bus that hit her in a wrongful death case in Blount County Circuit Court. The lawsuit, filed Monday, names Ollie H. Boring and William Edward Millsaps as defendants. Millsaps is identified as the bus driver and Boring as the owner of the vehicle.

Millsaps, 64, Walland, was driving a bus on East Lamar Alexander Parkway (U.S. Highway 321) toward Maryville when he reportedly did not see a minivan in front of him that was stopped to turn left into a residence.

According to information from the Tennessee Highway Patrol and witnesses at the scene, Millsaps veered left to miss the van and entered the lane of oncoming traffic. He then hit head-on a black 2002 Honda Accord driven by Nelams. Nelams’ vehicle came to rest in the Maryville-bound lane of traffic and was hit again by a 2003 Honda CRV driven by Richard Petsch, 47, Louisville. Petsch’s vehicle went down an embankment after the impact. There were no children on Millsaps’ bus at the time of the accident.

Nelams was flown by Lifestar to University of Tennessee Medical Center where she was pronounced dead. Two passengers in her vehicle — her children, according to Monday’s lawsuit — were also injured. They, along with Petsch, were taken to Blount Memorial Hospital where they were treated and released.

Millsaps was cited with following too closely.

Citing hospital expenses, funeral expenses, the loss of future earnings and pain and mental anguish on the part of Nelams and her children, among other things, the suit does not seek a specific amount in damages. Instead, the suit “demands judgment against these defendants in an amount which the jury finds appropriate ... ”

A phone message left for Boring seeking comment was not returned. In a phone call to a number listed for Millsaps in Walland, a man identifying himself as the bus driver said he had no knowledge of the lawsuit and declined comment.