Family drops Gregg Allman from lawsuit over death of Georgia film worker struck by train

SAVANNAH, Ga. – Gregg Allman has been dropped from a lawsuit by the family of a film worker killed by a train during shooting of a biographical movie about the Allman Brothers Band singer, attorneys said Thursday.

Lawyers for the parents of 27-year-old Sarah Jones said they decided to dismiss all claims against Allman and two other parties after reviewing thousands of documents and other evidence in the case. Jones, a camera assistant, died Feb. 20, during the first day of filming “Midnight Rider” when a freight train slammed into the movie crew on a railroad bridge in southeast Georgia. Six other workers were injured in the crash.

“It is clear that Mr. Allman … had no involvement in any of the decisions that resulted in Sarah’s death,” Jeff Harris, an Atlanta attorney for Jones’ parents, said in a statement Thursday.

Allman, in his capacity as an executive producer of the movie based on his life story, was among 10 individuals and eight corporations named as defendants in May when Richard and Elizabeth Jones of Columbia, South Carolina, filed their lawsuit in Savannah. The couple is still seeking damages from others including director Randall Miller, railroad company CSX Transportation and Rayonier Performance Fibers, which owns the property surrounding the crash site.

Miller and three other filmmakers have also been indicted on criminal charges of involuntary manslaughter, a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison, and trespassing in rural Wayne County where the crash occurred. Sheriff’s investigators concluded the filmmakers went onto the railroad bridge spanning the Altamaha River to shoot footage after CSX denied them permission.

Allman’s attorney, David Long-Daniels, said the singer had little involvement with the movie other than licensing the rights to his memoir, “My Cross to Bear,” to the filmmakers.

“We’re delighted the Jones family has dismissed us,” Long-Daniels said. “We remain very sorrowful for the tragedy they have endured with the loss of their daughter.”

The Jones family’s attorneys said they also dropped claims against Michael Lehman, an executive producer on the film, and Open Road Films, a film distribution and marketing company.