The father of a 19-year-old Elba woman that died in a crash in early 2016 while under the influence of alcohol has filed a lawsuit against The Front Porch for their alleged role in the incident.

Blaine Stevens, the attorney representing Chris English and family in the lawsuit, said Elizabeth Farris English was at the Troy bar from approximately 10 p.m. Friday, February 19 until closing time early the next morning.

A short time later, the vehicle driven by English collided head on with another vehicle driven by Joy Moses, 24, of Troy, killing both English and Moses.

Stevens said there are two statutes that the family believes The Front Porch is liable for in this situation.

“Specifically, code 6-5-70 of the Code of Alabama forbids the sale of alcohol to anyone under the age of 21,” Stevens said. “We believe there is ample evidence to show she was at The Front Porch until about closing time. When she had her accident later that morning, her blood alcohol was .144.”

Stevens said the family is also applying code 6-5-71 which forbids the sale of alcohol to those who are visibly intoxicated.

“We expect there will be evidence that The Front Porch violated this statute,” Stevens said. “With her blood alcohol at .144 when the accident happened, it would have been even higher at The Front Porch and at that level, she would have been visibly intoxicated in addition to being under age.”

No owners or managers at The Front Porch could be reached for comment at the time this story was published, nor was Steven aware of a response at that time.

Stevens said the family wants to prevent incidents like their daughter’s from happening again in the future.

“The main thing they want is to put a stop to what’s going on with underage drinking and driving in this area,” Stevens said. “The statistics are horrific with minors and others being injured and they want to send a message.”

The Front Porch has 30 days to file a response from the time the complaint is served.

According to the Code of Alabama Section 6-5-70, a business selling alcohol to a minor is liable “provided the person selling or furnishing liquor to the minor had knowledge of or was chargeable with notice or knowledge of such minority.”

The family has also brought a complaint against Beef O’ Brady’s of Enterprise, where Stevens said English began drinking earlier Friday night.

Five others were injured in the crash that night on Highway 167 between Troy and Enterprise.