‘Wiping out generations’: Attorney for I-35 crash victims going after trucking companies, construction

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- As the criminal investigation continues into the truck driver who police say "barreled" through nearly stopped traffic on Interstate 35 earlier this month, killing five and injuring 11 others, lawsuits are now starting to emerge as well. Personal injury attorney Thomas J. Henry is representing family members of some of the individuals killed in the crash, as well as some of the victims who were seriously injured. "There is no way to describe loss, pain, destruction," Henry said. "Wiping out generations in a moment." A family of four, including a child and an infant, was among the victims who died. "When that happens, all of the issues people have can be insurmountable," Henry said. The lawsuit names several parties, Henry said, "from the drivers to the companies to the construction." Police arrested 37-year-old Solomun Weldekeal-Araya and charged him with multiple counts of both intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault. According to jail records, he is still in custody. His arrest affidavit reveals he was allegedly on drugs — some kind of depressant — at the time of the crash. “My investigation is just beginning, and I cannot assume that the police or NTSB have been thorough or accurate in theirs,” Bristol Meyers, Araya’s attorney, told KXAN last week. Araya was working for an independent carrier, ZBN Transport LLC, hauling a load for Amazon. The day after the crash, ZBN told KXAN over the phone that Araya had been with the company for about four months, and he passed his background check. Henry said his firm is still in the preliminary stages of gathering evidence to determine how many entities may have fault in this crash. "You can see the obvious, a truck going into a roadway and just hitting so many vehicles and causing death and destruction," he said. "But there could be many, many layers and reasons that happened." Lawsuits on behalf of additional victims are being filed as well. This is a developing story. Check back for updates.