WILTON -- A Wilton family is claiming that the death of Nicholas Parisot was likely caused by his own negligence and not by the "willful and malicious conduct" of a 12-year-old member of that family.
This past June, Wilton residents Rick Parisot and Katherine Throckmorton, of 274 Nod Hill Road, filed a civil suit against Glenn and Barbara Knight and their 12-year-old son, all of 97 Hickory Hill Road, claiming the 12-year-old caused the death of their son, Nicholas Parisot.
On the afternoon of June 13, 2008, 13-year-old Parisot, 13, was riding his motorized bike on a trail in a wooded area near Hickory Hill and Hillbrook roads and struck a rope strung across the trail. Parisot suffered severe fatal injuries to his neck and body, resulting in his death shortly thereafter. Wilton police labeled the case a criminal homicide, but have yet to bring charges against anyone.
The civil suit, which seeks damages in excess of $15,000, alleges the 12-year-old male "strung a rope across a trail in the area of the woods to the rear of his family's property." The court document states the pre-teen "tied the rope to two trees on each side of the trail to create a sudden and unavoidable blockage of the trail, creating a dangerous condition on the trail that he knew was likely to cause physical injury to persons riding motorized bikes on the trail."
The Knights, through their attorney Kevin Murphy, responded to the allegations on Jan. 11.
"If the plaintiffs sustained any injuries or damages as are alleged in their complaint, said injuries or damages were proximately caused by the negligence of the plaintiffs' decedent Nicholas R. Parisot at said time and place he failed to keep a proper lookout," the court document reads.
The paperwork also states that Parisot "failed to keep his motorized bike under reasonable and proper control, he was operating his motorized bike at an excessive or unreasonable rate of speed for the conditions ... and he failed to exercise reasonable for his own safety."
According to David Golub, Rick Parisot and Throckmorton's attorney, this is an outrageous defense.
"Nick Parisot was literally ambushed on the trail. There is no basis to say that the victim was negligent," said Golub. "He (the 12-year-old defendant) refuses to testify, he claims he wasn't there. If he wasn't there, how does he know that Nick wasn't negligent?"
The Knights also filed a motion for a protective order on Nov. 5 and again on Jan. 11. According to the court documents, the protective order was issued "to protect the defendant, including but not limited to protect the constitutional rights" (of the defendant). The motion also stated "the court in this matter must grant the protective order filed in this case to preserve the defendant's Fifth Amendment rights."
The Knights and their attorney did not return calls for this story.
According to Rob Peragine, an attorney at the East Hartford-based Adler Law Group, LLC, which specializes in personal injury and wrongful death suits, there are many reasons someone would file a protective order in a civil suit. In this case, the Knights likely filed a protective order so the 12-year-old would not have to testify specific information in civil court that would be incriminating, said Peragine, who is not involved in the Parisot suit.
"If someone makes a statement in a civil court, they are under oath and anything said can be used against you," he said.
According to Lt. Donald Wakeman of the Wilton Police Department, the case is currently open and is still being actively investigated. He has said that officers have interviewed numerous adults and children in the case, and the Knight family was included in those interviews.
Wakeman said Wednesday that pertinent information has been developed that points towards a specific suspect, and the department will continue to pursue information that will enable an arrest to be made, no matter how long that takes.
"This case is still open and still being investigated. There is nothing new to report on as of right now," said Wakeman on Wednesday. "The department considers the investigation (to be) far too important to close out prior to an arrest being made. However, beyond that, we feel an obligation to the family of Nicholas Parisot, to provide them some degree of closure by following through with an arrest."
The Parisot family could not be reached for this story.
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