Five years after the tragic death of Chief’s fan Kyle Van Winkle, his widow, Jenni Van Winkle finally reached a settlement with the Kansas City Chiefs, bring her wrongful death lawsuit against the team to a close. For those who don’t know, Kyle Van Winkle was a long time Chief’s fan and enjoyed attending home games at Arrowhead Stadium. Unfortunately, while attending a home game in December 2013, he was attacked and left for dead in the Arrowhead Stadium parking lot.
Five years after the tragic death of Chief’s fan Kyle Van Winkle, his widow, Jenni Van Winkle finally reached a settlement with the Kansas City Chiefs, bring her wrongful death lawsuit against the team to a close. For those who don’t know, Kyle Van Winkle was a long time Chief’s fan and enjoyed attending home games at Arrowhead Stadium. Unfortunately, while attending a home game in December 2013, he was attacked and left for dead in the Arrowhead Stadium parking lot.
According to the wrongful death lawsuit filed shortly after the fatal incident, Kyle was drinking and disappeared during the game.” The suit explained that he had “somehow gone back out to the parking lot and crawled into an unlocked SUV that looked similar to the vehicle they’d driven to the game.” Unfortunately, some rowdy partiers hanging out in the parking lot “thought he’d broken into the SUV and attacked him.” As a result, Mrs. Van Winkle alleged “there wasn’t enough security in the lot to assist her husband and to provide aid when he fell to the ground and was left to die.”
When commenting on the incident in 2015 she said, “Everything just crumbled around me…It’s unbelievable to think that in a crowd so big, there was no one around to help.”
Jenni Van Winkle’s lawsuit against the Chiefs wasn’t the first time the team had been investigated over complaints of negligence and lack of security. In fact, FOX4 launched an investigation of its own and discovered “numerous lawsuits filed against the Chiefs, stemming from various fights and drunken behavior.” So how did the Chiefs respond? For starters, it issued a statement saying, “The safety of our fans is our top priority.” The Chiefs added that it “takes pride in creating a safe environment for guests and will continue to take appropriate measures to ensure safety in the stadium and parking lots.”
When Mrs. Van Winkle first filed her lawsuit in Jackson County Circuit Court, talks of a settlement quickly began to circulate. However, the parties involved failed to agree to a settlement and the case was set to go to trial earlier this week, “though a judge pushed it back one week to June 11, 2018.” Then, yesterday the trial was canceled because “a confidential settlement had been reached between the defendants in the case and the Van Winkles.”
Since the settlement agreement, neither side has commented on the specifics of the agreement. However, attorney’s representing the Van Winkle’s and the Chiefs revealed that the “settlement was resolved to the mutual satisfaction of all parties.” For now, it’s awaiting final approval from the Jackson County judge charged with overseeing the case.
Sources:
Widow and KC Chiefs settle lawsuit over man’s death in Arrowhead Stadium parking lot
Kansas City Chiefs Settle Suit Over 2013 Beating Death In Parking Lot
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