Keith, family awarded $2.8M in lawsuit

PURCELL, Okla., Dec. 26 (UPI) -- Country music star Toby Keith and his family were awarded $2.8 million in a civil action filed after Keith's father was killed in an Oklahoma highway accident.

Hubert "H.K." Covel, 67, died six years ago after the Ford pickup he was driving north on Interstate 35 in Oklahoma was hit by another vehicle, causing him to cross the center median where he was struck head-on by a southbound bus that "urgently" needed brake work.

A McClain County, Okla., jury awarded $2.8 million to Toby Keith Covel, Carolyn Covel, Tonni Covel and Tracy Covel in the wrongful death case, The Purcell (Okla.) Register reported.

The defendants in the lawsuit were Elias Rodriguez and Pedro Rodriguez, proprietors of Rodriguez Transportes, and Republic Western Insurance Company.

"The plaintiffs were exuberant with the jury verdict and felt it cleared Covel's name and represented a just result," attorney Greg Dixon, who served as local counsel for the Covels' Oklahoma City lawyers, told the Register.

Dixon added that the decision found Covel "bore no responsibility for the bus/car accident."