O'Neal lawsuit reaches settlement
Aaron O'Neal died during a voluntary workout July 2005.
Published March 12, 2009
A tentative agreement has been reached in the wrongful death lawsuit filed by the parents of former MU football player Aaron O'Neal.
The lawsuit alleged MU coaches and trainers failed to properly care for Aaron O'Neal after he collapsed from a voluntary workout July 2005, MU Athletics spokesman Chad Moller said.
O'Neal, a native of St. Louis, was a freshman linebacker who died after a voluntary summer workout in 2005.
The 13th Judicial Circuit Court approved a settlement Thursday in the lawsuit involving the death of Aaron O'Neal. Circuit Court Judge Gary Oxenhandler approved the settlement and the defendants reached the settlement with no admission of fault, an MU news release stated.
Aaron O'Neal's parents filed the lawsuit against employees of MU's athletic department, according to Missouri court documents.
Lonnie O'Neal, Aaron O'Neal's father, filed the lawsuit in 2005 after the autopsy report came back from the hospital.
The settlement includes MU establishing a scholarship in O'Neal's name and the amount of money paid to the O'Neal family.
"It's difficult to describe the emotions that are involved in something like this," Athletic Director Mike Alden said in the release. "You're certainly relieved that the legal process is over, but you still have this void that was created by Aaron's death that can never be filled."
The university will honor O'Neal permanently by starting a $250,000 endowed scholarship fund, the news release stated.
"The scholarship means an awful lot to me and to his family," football coach Gary Pinkel said.
The settlement also states that $2 million will be paid to the O'Neal family and MU will pay $600,000 with the rest coming from the university's insurer.
Another part of the settlement was there was no fault attributed in the death of Aaron O'Neal to the fourteen defendants. All defendants have been dismissed.
Pinkel said it's good to have the legal process completed, the news release stated.
"From the moment we lost Aaron, our primary concern was always for his family and for us to do what's right for them," Pinkel said. "I've always understood through this whole process that they were doing what they had to do, and all we could focus on was honoring Aaron and what he meant to our program."
Pinkel said he thought the scholarship was a good way to keep O'Neal's memory alive.
MU spokesman Christian Basi said he does not know exactly when the scholarship will first be awarded.
"The university is still sorting out the details for the scholarship," he said.
O'Neal came in the fall of 2004 and was a redshirt his first season. He would have been a senior this year.
MU's football team has honored O'Neal for almost four years by preserving his locker, members of the team alternately wearing his No. 25 jersey during home games and by doing other honors within the team's facilities and stadium.
"For three and a half years, we honored him as if he were still on the team," Pinkel said. "Now that he would have graduated, we will figure out how best to honor him from now on."
-- Staff writer Amanda Wysocki contributed to this report.
