A Maple Ridge woman who was paralyzed during a 2011 gangland style shooting in Kelownais suing ICBC, saying “pre-existing injuries” were made worse when the shot-up SUV she was a passenger in, drove off-course and crashed.
Now, as someone who was covered by an insurance policy at the time, she wants compensation to cover the related expenses.
Leah Hadden-Watts was leaving the Delta Grand Hotel with friend Lyndsey Black, Red Scorpions leader Jonathan Bacon, Hells Angel Larry Amero and Independent Soldier James Riach when the SUV they were in was intercepted by masked gunman and sprayed with bullets.
READ ALSO: SHOOTING LEAVE A MARK ON KELOWNA
Hadden-Watts was shot in the neck, Amero, the driver, was shot in the face, wrist and chest and Black was shot through both upper legs. Bacon died at the scene. In April Jason McBride was convicted of murder and Jujhar Khun-Khun and Michael Jones were convicted of conspiracy to commit murder.
Hadden-Watts, who is now a paraplegic, recently filed a civil suit saying that Amero, who was the driver and the owner of the Porsche, was “negligent” when the shot-up Porsche collided with another vehicle before driving onto the sidewalk and into trees.
As a result, according to the claim, Hadden-Watts sustained injuries to her neck, worsening a pre-existing spinal injury, knee and physiological injury. In the years that have followed, Hadden-Watts incurred expenses for medication, rehabilitation and other services.
Hadden-Watts’ claim argues she was insured by ICBC and is entitled to insurance benefits, which she hasn’t received. She claims she is entitled to receive medical, rehabilitation and disability benefits as well as court costs.
She originally filed a civil suit in 2013 against McBride, Khun-Khun and Jones, as well as the companies that operate the Delta Grand hotel and the nearby casino.
READ MORE: Woman caught in gangster shooting at The Delta Grand sues
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