A fourth-grade teacher, Elizabeth Denman, of Big Creek, was killed by an allegedly drunk driver Thursday night when Ronnie G. Hacker’s pickup truck crossed the center lane on Kentucky 11 in Clay County and struck Denman’s sedan head-on. Both Denman and Hacker were pronounced dead at the scene. Hacker’s passenger, 30-year-old Bill R. Henson of Manchester, was airlifted to University of Kentucky Hospital for his injuries. Kentucky State Police believe Hacker was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the collision.
Bush Elementary Principal Lisa Sibert said Denman was in her seventh year of teaching at the school. Beth Denman grew up in Big Creek in Clay County. Her parents Tom and Chris Denman moved to Big Creek from Ohio when Beth was about 18 months old to run the Joy Center, a community outreach program, in the former Big Creek Elementary school building.
Denman had two children, a first grader who attends Bush Elementary and a 13-year-old in middle school. Denman’s father said staff at Bush have offered to take turns picking up her son so he can continue school at Bush Elementary.
This sort of senseless and egregious behavior by DUI drivers requires victim’s and their families to seek immediate legal representation. In such cases, punitive damages are sometimes warranted when a driver has a history of DUI. “Even the passenger of the vehicle driven by the DUI driver potentially has a claim against the driver,” says Finis Price, attorney with Kentucky Lawyers. He handles many of these type cases across the state and says that you need experienced and aggressive legal representation in this types of cases.
