$575,000 Settlement After Arizona Supreme Court Revives Wrongful Death Suit Over 12-Year-Old's Death at Uncontrolled Peoria Intersection

On the afternoon of October 10, 2018, a 12-year-old boy was walking home from school near 77th Avenue and Peoria Avenue in Peoria, Arizona, when a truck struck and killed him at an intersection that had no traffic signal or marked crosswalk. His mother, Kizzen James, and his father, Dennis McGinnis, alleged that the City of Peoria bore responsibility for failing to make the heavily trafficked crossing safe for pedestrians like their son.

In March 2019, Kizzen James filed a notice of claim against the City, seeking more than $10 million in damages. The City moved to dismiss, arguing that James's notice of claim was defective because it imposed a 30-day deadline for the City to respond, which was shorter than the 60-day window the Arizona notice-of-claim statute provides to government entities. Both the trial court and the court of appeals agreed with the City and dismissed the case.

AJ Law attorneys Abdul Jaiteh and Elizabeth Gonzalez, along with co-counsel David L. Abney, petitioned the Arizona Supreme Court. In a July 2022 opinion, the court reversed. It held that a claimant does not void an otherwise valid notice of claim by specifying a shorter offer deadline, because the 60-day period under A.R.S. Section 12-821.01 protects the public entity's response window and cannot be modified by either side. The court overruled a prior decision, 'Drew v. Prescott Unified School District,' and sent the case back to the trial court to proceed.

With litigation continuing, the City of Peoria agreed to settle. On January 14, 2025, the Peoria City Council voted to approve a $575,000 payment to resolve the claim. The settlement also included a commitment to a future memorial honoring the child. Following the 2018 collision, the city had already installed a traffic signal at the intersection where he was killed.

The Arizona Supreme Court's 2022 ruling in 'James v. City of Peoria', 513 P.3d 277, now governs how courts assess notices of claim filed against Arizona government entities, limiting the ability of public defendants to escape liability on procedural grounds alone.