EDGAR COUNTY, Ill. (WCIA) — The family of a 67-year-old woman, tragically killed by an Edgar County dump truck several months ago, continues their quest for justice. In pursuit of answers, they have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against both the truck’s driver and Edgar County officials on Wednesday.
This legal action accuses Dawson Watson, the truck’s operator, and the county of eight different counts, including allegations of wrongful death, reckless conduct leading to wrongful death, survival action, as well as reckless conduct related to survival. The family’s lawsuit seeks $50,000 in damages for each of these counts.
WCIA previously covered the incident involving Teresa A. Bradley, who was struck near the Edgar County Courthouse on November 17, 2025. Despite being rushed to Carle Hospital in Urbana, she passed away the following day. Further investigations revealed that Watson had been cited for not yielding to a pedestrian.
Photos provided by family
According to a report by the Paris Police Department, Bradley was crossing the street with a white walk signal. As she reached the middle of the first lane, the signal turned to a flashing orange stop hand. Simultaneously, Watson, heading west in the dump truck under a green light, turned south, resulting in the collision that ultimately led to Bradley’s death.
According to the lawsuit, the intersection where Watson hit Bradley had a traffic sign that said “turning traffic must yield to pedestrians.”
Bradley’s daughter alleges that her mother’s death was not properly investigated by the Paris Police Department.
Court documents indicate that officers arrived on the scene around 2:34 p.m., and Watson was allowed to leave just 11 minutes later. The plaintiffs also allege that Watson was not taken for drug or alcohol testing after the crash and that he wasn’t interviewed to determine whether he was driving while fatigued or distracted. On top of that, the plaintiffs said the vehicle he was driving was never inspected and continued to be used on the road after Bradley’s death.
The plaintiffs argue that Watson had a duty to operate his vehicle with “reasonable care” to avoid hurting anyone and that he had a duty to “refrain from willful and wanton conduct.” At the same time, as Watson’s employer, Edgar County had a responsibility to make sure its vehicles were operated safely, the suit argues.
Instead, actions like failing to decrease speed to avoid colliding with a pedestrian, failing to obey a sign which said turning traffic must yield to pedestrians and failing to take “proper evasive action” to avoid a collision with a pedestrian led to Bradley’s death, the suit said.
“By reason of her death, the next of kin of [Bradley] have suffered and been deprived of her society, love, affection, companionship, and support and have suffered grief, sorrow and mental suffering as a result of her death,” the suit reads.
Spiros Law, P.C. is representing Bradley and her family.
WCIA reached out to the Edgar County Clerk, Board and Highway Department. We also reached out to the Paris Police Department. We have not received any information back by the time of publishing.
Photos provided by family