The Alabama Supreme Court is hearing the wrongful death case of a Mobile teenager killed in a crash

Thomas Randall Sawyer Jr. was 16 years old when he died in a car accident on March 31, 2018. Now his death is at the center of a wrongful death lawsuit filed in the Alabama Supreme Court.

Sawyer was the passenger in a GMC Envoy whose tire burst, resulting in a crash on State Highway 217. The driver of the SUV lost control after the tire burst, causing the vehicle to cross both lanes, crash into a ditch and overturn.

Sawyer’s family filed a lawsuit against tire manufacturer Cooper Tire & Rubber Company in 2020.

“The defective tire disintegrated while still within its expected service life,” the lawsuit said. “This was due to a manufacturing defect consisting of a lack of a permanent connection between the components of the tire, which caused it to fall apart and rapidly deflate, resulting in the injuries and death of the deceased.”

The lawsuit initially listed the SUV driver as a defendant and sued him for negligence after a police report found the driver may have overreacted when the tire burst. However, a judge dismissed the driver from the lawsuit.

The Mobile Circuit Court dismissed the case on jurisdictional grounds, but the plaintiffs appealed.

According to the lawsuit, Cooper Tire conducts a “Tread Wisely” campaign to educate youth about the importance of tire tread checking and tire maintenance.

Sawyer, whose relatives were called Tommy, was from Mobile but was living in Jacksonville, Florida, at the time of his death.

The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on June 5.

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