Preble County, Ohio Trucking Homicide: What Happened on US 40, and What the Family Can Do Now
If you are reading this because someone you love was killed in that semi truck on the US 40 entrance ramp to I-70 West in Preble County, we want you to know three things before anything else. First, what happened to Shanae Robinson was not an accident — and the law does not treat it as one. Second, the man who confessed at the scene is not the only person who may be responsible for her death. Third, the evidence that proves this case is already disappearing, and the day you call a lawyer is the day that stops.
We are Attorney911 — The Manginello Law Firm, PLLC. We are trial lawyers who take Ohio wrongful death cases, working with local counsel where required. Ralph Manginello has spent 27 years in courtrooms, including federal court. Lupe Peña spent years inside a national insurance-defense firm — the rooms where adjusters and their software decided how to deny, delay, and devalue claims exactly like yours — and now sits on your side of the table. We handle wrongful death claims and 18-wheeler accident cases at the level this case demands, and we will tell you the truth about what you are facing.
Here is what the public record tells us, and here is what it means for a family that has the right to hold someone accountable.
What Happened on the US 40 Entrance Ramp to I-70 West
In early summer 2026, a 38-year-old commercial truck driver named LaDavid Jaron Shaw was operating a semi truck on or near the US 40 entrance ramp to Interstate 70 West in Preble County, Ohio. Preble County sits on Ohio’s western border with Indiana, and I-70 is one of the major east-west commercial trucking routes in this part of the country — connecting Indianapolis to Dayton and Columbus, carrying enormous volumes of freight through a rural county with a small population and a conservative jury pool.
According to the public record, Shaw strangled 36-year-old Shanae Robinson to death inside the cab of his semi truck. He did not just use his hands. He confessed at the scene — told law enforcement he strangled her with his hands and then placed his boot on her neck because she “would not shut up.” Then he intentionally crashed the tractor-trailer. The crash was not the cause of her death. The crash was a cover-up — an attempt to stage the killing as an accident.
Shaw was charged with murder, tampering with evidence, and resisting arrest. A forensic evaluation found him competent to stand trial. His insanity defense was withdrawn. His trial is set for October 27, 2026, in Preble County Common Pleas Court.
Robinson was pronounced dead at the hospital after being found in the wrecked semi truck.
That is the public record. Now let us tell you what it means for the family she left behind — and what we can do about it.
Can the Family Sue? Yes — and Here Is Who They Can Sue
Yes. Under Ohio law, when a person’s death is caused by a wrongful act, neglect, or default that would have entitled the injured person to maintain an action and recover damages if death had not ensued, the person who would have been liable is answerable in damages. Ohio’s wrongful death statute expressly permits this action even where the death was caused under circumstances amounting to aggravated murder, murder, or manslaughter.
“When the death of a person is caused by wrongful act, neglect, or default which would have entitled the party injured to maintain an action and recover damages if death had not ensued, the person who would have been liable if death had not ensued, or the [personal representative]… shall be answerable in damages.”
That is Ohio Rev. Code § 2125.01 — and it is the foundation of everything that follows.
The action is brought in the name of the decedent’s personal representative, for the exclusive benefit of the surviving spouse, children, and parents, and other next of kin. Ohio Rev. Code § 2125.02(A). Before any lawsuit, a court appoints that personal representative — the one person Ohio law authorizes to bring the family’s case. We handle that appointment.
Now here is the question that matters more than any other: who can the family actually sue? Because there are two potential defendants in this case, and they are very different.
The first defendant is Shaw himself. His confessed, intentional killing is the direct cause of death. He is liable for wrongful death and battery. But here is the hard truth: an individual truck driver’s personal assets are likely limited. A judgment against Shaw alone may be judgment-worthy — meaning it exists on paper and carries the force of a court order — but it may be financially uncollectible. A piece of paper that says “you won” is not the same as a recovery that actually reaches the family.
The second defendant is the motor carrier. This is the defendant the family may not know about yet, and it is the defendant that can make this case worth millions instead of nothing. The public record does not identify the carrier for whom Shaw was driving, or whether the tractor-trailer was owned by Shaw as an owner-operator or by a fleet. This is the single most critical unknown for civil recovery. If Shaw was a company driver or a leased owner-operator operating under carrier authority, the carrier’s insurance, assets, and regulatory record become the path to a real recovery.
We will come back to exactly how that works — because it is the central legal battle in this case, and it is where most of the money and most of the fight live.
Ohio Wrongful Death Law: The Statute of Limitations and What It Means
Ohio gives the family two years. A civil action for wrongful death shall be commenced within two years after the decedent’s death, running from the date of death. Ohio Rev. Code § 2125.02(F)(1). That clock starts the day Shanae Robinson died — not the day of the criminal trial, not the day the family hired a lawyer, not the day they realized they could sue. Two years from the date of death, and the door closes.
Two years sounds like a long time. It is not. Here is why: the criminal case against Shaw is set for trial on October 27, 2026. If the family waits for the criminal case to resolve before filing a civil case — which is a reasonable instinct but a dangerous one — they could lose months or more of the window. And meanwhile, the evidence that makes the civil case winnable is degrading on a clock measured in days, not years.
There is another Ohio rule the family needs to understand. Ohio follows a modified comparative negligence standard with a 51% bar. Under Ohio Rev. Code § 2315.33, a plaintiff is barred from recovering only if the plaintiff’s contributory fault is greater than the combined tortious conduct of all other persons. Otherwise, compensatory damages are diminished proportionately to the plaintiff’s percentage of fault.
In an intentional-killing case, comparative fault is generally not available as a defense. Intentional torts are not “contributory fault” within the meaning of the statute. The victim of a murder does not have comparative fault to apportion. The 51% bar is therefore unlikely to be a meaningful defense in this case — and any attempt to assign fault to the victim is the kind of strategy insurers use to devalue claims, not a reflection of what the law actually permits.
What this means: the family’s right to sue is clear. The deadline is real. And the fault defense that insurers lean on in ordinary accident cases has almost no purchase here.
The Motor Carrier: Finding the Deep Pocket and Piercing the Insurance Exclusion
This is the section that matters most. Read it carefully.
If Shaw was driving under a motor carrier’s authority — whether as a company employee or a leased owner-operator — that carrier had duties under federal law to screen him before putting him behind the wheel. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regulations under 49 CFR Part 391 govern commercial driver qualification. A motor carrier shall not require or permit a person to drive a commercial motor vehicle unless that person is qualified. 49 CFR § 391.11(a). The carrier must obtain a completed application for employment that includes the driver’s accident history. 49 CFR § 391.21(b). The carrier must investigate the driver’s safety performance history with prior DOT-regulated employers. 49 CFR § 391.23(a). The carrier must review the driver’s motor vehicle record. And 49 CFR § 390.5 defines a motor carrier to include the carrier’s agents, officers, and representatives — as well as employees responsible for hiring, supervising, training, assigning, or dispatching of drivers.
Here is what this means in plain English: if the carrier that put Shaw behind the wheel failed to investigate his background — if Shaw had prior violent incidents, criminal history, domestic violence complaints, road rage documented in a personnel file, substance issues, or any other red flag that a proper background check would have surfaced — the carrier’s failure to screen him is an independent act of negligence. That negligence is the carrier’s own, separate from Shaw’s intentional act.
Why does this matter? Because almost every commercial insurance policy contains an intentional-acts exclusion. That exclusion says: if the insured’s employee intentionally harms someone, the insurance policy does not cover the harm. The insurer will argue that Shaw’s intentional killing triggers this exclusion, and therefore the policy does not pay.
But here is the move the carrier is counting on the family never learning: the intentional-acts exclusion does not reach the carrier’s own negligent hiring, retention, supervision, or entrustment. Those are separate torts — independent acts of negligence by the carrier, not intentional acts by the driver. If the carrier knew or should have known that Shaw had dangerous propensities and put him behind the wheel of an 80,000-pound commercial vehicle anyway, the carrier’s own negligence is a separate basis for liability — and separate insurance coverage that the intentional-acts exclusion may not bar.
Whether a negligent hiring theory under Ohio law can unlock commercial general liability and auto liability coverage despite the intentional-acts exclusion is a question of Ohio tort and insurance law that requires careful analysis by an attorney who understands both the FMCSA regulatory framework and Ohio insurance law. The defense bar will fight this tooth and nail. But this is the theory that turns a $50,000 judgment against an indigent truck driver into a multi-million-dollar recovery against a well-insured motor carrier.
Negligent entrustment is another independent theory. If the carrier provided Shaw with the tractor-trailer despite knowledge or constructive knowledge of dangerous tendencies, entrusting a commercial vehicle to a person known to be dangerous is a recognized tort theory in many jurisdictions. Whether Ohio recognizes this theory in the motor-carrier context requires case-specific analysis — but the doctrine is real, and it is a second path to the carrier’s insurance.
The carrier’s driver qualification file is the key to all of this. That file — Shaw’s employment application, background investigation results, prior employer inquiries, driving record review, annual review, and any disciplinary records — establishes whether the carrier screened him properly or let red flags pass. That file must be preserved, demanded, and produced in discovery. And if the carrier purges it after the incident, the law has an answer for that too — which we will get to in the evidence section.
The Evidence Clock: What Exists, Who Holds It, and How Fast It Dies
Every piece of evidence in this case is on a clock. Some clocks run in months. Some run in days. Some may have already expired. This is why the preservation letter goes out the day you call, not after the criminal case resolves.
Tractor-trailer EDR / black box data. The truck’s event data recorder captures vehicle speed, braking, steering input, and impact forces. In a staged crash, the EDR will show a braking pattern, speed, and impact profile that is inconsistent with a normal accident sequence — potentially showing no braking before impact, or a deliberate steering input, or a speed that does not match the road geometry. This data can prove the crash was staged rather than the cause of death. But crash data can be overwritten on subsequent use, or the vehicle may be scrapped or sold for salvage. A preservation letter and inspection order must go out immediately.
ELD / Qualcomm / GPS telematics data. The carrier’s electronic logging system and GPS telematics show Shaw’s route, stops, speed, and timing throughout the trip. This data corroborates the staging — it may show when the truck stopped on the entrance ramp, how long it sat there, when Robinson entered the cab, and when the truck was deliberately crashed. Carrier telematics systems typically retain raw data for only 6 to 8 days before it is overwritten. This is one of the fastest-dying sources of evidence in the case. If the preservation demand has not already been served, this data may already be gone.
Dashcam or inward-facing cab camera footage. Many commercial carriers now install inward-facing cameras that record the cab interior. If this truck had one, the footage may capture Robinson’s presence in the cab, the strangulation itself, or Shaw’s statements after the crash. Loop recording systems overwrite within hours to days. This footage is extremely time-sensitive. It may already be lost without immediate action.
Truck stop surveillance video. The US 40/I-70 interchange area in Preble County has multiple truck stops and rest facilities that attract high volumes of commercial vehicle traffic. If Shaw and Robinson were at a truck stop before the killing, surveillance video may show them together, the timing of events, and the truck’s movements. Truck-stop CCTV systems typically overwrite within 7 to 30 days. A preservation demand to the truck stop is time-critical.
Carrier driver qualification file and employment records. Shaw’s personnel file — his application, background check results, prior employer inquiry responses, driving record review, any complaints or disciplinary actions — establishes whether the carrier screened him properly. Personnel files may be purged post-incident. An immediate litigation hold is required.
Crime scene and autopsy records from Preble County. The autopsy findings will confirm strangulation as the cause of death versus crash trauma. This is the medical evidence that proves the staging — and it establishes the survival period, which matters for pain-and-suffering damages. These records are preserved by law enforcement, but they should be requested through the criminal case or via civil discovery.
When a defendant lets required evidence die after receiving notice to preserve it, the law answers. An adverse-inference instruction permits the jury to assume the lost record was as damaging as the plaintiff says it was. Sanctions are available. The bar for the harshest sanctions is high, but the leverage begins the moment the preservation letter is on file. The letter itself changes the power dynamic — because now the carrier knows that destroying evidence has consequences.
The Medicine: What Strangulation Does to a Human Body, and What the Autopsy Proves
Strangulation is not a quick death. It is a mechanical asphyxiation — the airway is compressed, blood flow to the brain is restricted, and consciousness is lost over a period that can last 30 seconds to several minutes depending on the method and force applied. When someone uses their hands and then places a boot on the neck, the compression is sustained and deliberate. The victim experiences conscious pain and suffering during that period — the terror of not being able to breathe, the physical agony of tissue compression, and the awareness that death is coming.
This matters for two legal reasons. First, the autopsy will show distinct findings that separate strangulation from crash trauma. Manual strangulation produces specific physical evidence: petechial hemorrhages in the eyes and skin, fracture of the hyoid bone or thyroid cartilage, bruising on the neck consistent with hand pressure and boot compression, and a pattern of asphyxial changes in the lungs and brain. Crash trauma produces a completely different injury pattern — blunt force injuries, seatbelt marks, impact deceleration injuries. A competent forensic pathologist can distinguish these patterns with a high degree of certainty.
Second, the period between the strangulation and death — the survival period — supports a survival action. Under Ohio law, the estate of a person who did not die immediately may recover for the decedent’s conscious pain and suffering experienced before death, as well as medical expenses incurred before pronouncement. Robinson was pronounced dead at the hospital, which means she was transported, evaluated, and possibly treated before being pronounced. The medical records from that period — however brief — are part of the damages case.
The family may also see something the autopsy report describes in clinical language but that they will recognize as the worst moments of someone’s life. We handle this with respect. The evidence speaks for itself. We do not need to dramatize what the medical findings already prove.
The Money: What This Case Is Worth, and Why the Answer Depends on the Carrier
The value of this case pivots on one question: can the family identify a collectible defendant beyond Shaw himself?
If the only liable party is the individual driver, and no collectible carrier or insurance exists, the recovery is limited to Shaw’s personal assets — which are likely negligible. In that scenario, the case value is low: perhaps $50,000 to $150,000, and even that may be uncollectible. A judgment against an individual truck driver with no assets and no applicable insurance is a piece of paper that says the family won but pays them little or nothing.
If a viable negligent hiring, retention, or entrustment theory against a well-insured motor carrier is established, the case value changes entirely. In that scenario, the case is potentially worth $5,000,000 to $15,000,000 or more — driven by full compensatory wrongful death damages for a 36-year-old woman plus punitive damages, subject to Ohio’s rules on punitive damage caps.
Here is what makes up those damages:
Economic damages. Funeral and burial expenses. Loss of Robinson’s future earning capacity as a 36-year-old — she had decades of working life ahead of her, and a forensic economist calculates the present value of that lost income stream. Loss of financial support to dependents — if Robinson had children or others who depended on her income. Medical expenses incurred between the assault and her pronouncement at the hospital.
Non-economic damages. The family’s loss of consortium, companionship, guidance, and mental anguish. The loss of the life Robinson would have lived — the relationships, the experiences, the presence that was taken. Robinson’s conscious pain and suffering during strangulation before death — the survival component.
Punitive damages. Given the intentional, confessed nature of the killing and the post-kill staging of the crash, punitive damages are warranted. Ohio law treats punitive damages differently from compensatory damages — and the specific rules governing punitive damage caps in Ohio require careful analysis. The family should understand that punitive damages are subject to state-specific limitations that an attorney must evaluate against the current law. But the conduct in this case — a confessed murder followed by evidence tampering — is precisely the kind of conduct that punitive damages exist to address.
How is a real number built? A life-care planner constructs the cost stream of what Robinson’s life would have produced and what her dependents lost. A forensic economist reduces that stream to present value. The non-economic losses are proven through the testimony of the people who knew her — what she meant, what she did, what is gone. The number is built from all of it, and the adjuster’s first offer will be a fraction of it. Ralph Manginello has spent 27 years building these numbers in courtrooms. The firm has recovered millions in trucking wrongful death cases — $2.5 million in truck-crash recovery, $5 million in brain-injury settlement, $3.8 million in amputation settlement, $50 million in total recoveries.
Past results depend on the facts of each case and do not guarantee future outcomes. But the method — building the number from the medicine, the economics, the law, and the evidence — is what produces real recoveries, not quick settlement checks.
The Insurance Adjuster’s Playbook: What They Will Try, and How to Counter It
Lupe Peña spent years inside a national insurance-defense firm before joining our team. He sat in the rooms where claims like yours are priced, and he knows the playbook from the inside. Here are the plays that are already in motion, and the counter to each.
Play 1: The “intentional-acts exclusion” wall. The carrier’s insurer will assert that because Shaw’s act was intentional — a murder — the commercial auto liability policy does not cover it. The release will be drafted to make this sound like the end of the road. Counter: The exclusion does not reach the carrier’s own negligent hiring, retention, supervision, and entrustment. Those are independent torts with independent coverage. The fight is not whether Shaw’s act was intentional — it was — but whether the carrier’s own negligence in putting a dangerous person behind the wheel is a separate, covered wrong. This is the central legal battle, and it is winnable.
Play 2: The fast, small check with a release attached. Within weeks, an adjuster may contact the family offering a settlement that sounds substantial to a grieving family but is a fraction of the case’s value. The check comes with a release that extinguishes all claims against all defendants — including the carrier. Once signed, the family cannot sue the carrier later, even if they discover the carrier knew Shaw was dangerous. Counter: No document gets signed without a lawyer reviewing it. No check gets accepted until the carrier’s driver qualification file has been produced and the negligent hiring theory has been evaluated. The first offer is designed to close the case before the family learns what it is worth.
Play 3: The “just tell us what happened” recorded statement. A friendly adjuster will call and ask the family to describe the relationship, the events, the damages — on a recording built to be quoted against them later. Inconsistent statements, emotional responses, and factual uncertainties all become ammunition. Counter: No family member gives a recorded statement to the insurance company without counsel present. The family has no obligation to help the insurer build its defense file.
Play 4: The delay toward the statute of limitations. The insurer may stall — requesting documents, promising reviews, asking for extensions — hoping the two-year wrongful death statute of limitations runs before the family files. Counter: The civil case is filed on the family’s timeline, not the insurer’s. The preservation letter goes out immediately. The lawsuit is filed when the investigation is ready, not when the insurer has exhausted the clock.
Play 5: The “we are not the employer” defense. If Shaw was a leased owner-operator, the carrier will argue he was an independent contractor and the carrier is not responsible for his acts. Counter: Federal motor carrier regulations define a motor carrier to include employees responsible for hiring, supervising, training, assigning, and dispatching drivers — 49 CFR § 390.5. The carrier’s control over Shaw’s operations, his dispatch, his routes, and his vehicle may establish the relationship necessary for vicarious liability and negligent supervision regardless of the independent-contractor label. This is a factual question developed through discovery.
How the Case Is Built: From Preservation to Verdict
Here is how a case like this is actually won — not in the abstract, but in the concrete steps that happen once the family calls.
Week one. The preservation letter goes out — to the carrier, to the truck stop, to any telematics vendor. It demands that the EDR data, the ELD logs, the GPS telematics, the dashcam footage, the driver qualification file, the personnel records, and any surveillance video be preserved and not destroyed. The letter puts the carrier on notice that destroying evidence has consequences. Simultaneously, the motor carrier is identified through Shaw’s CDL records, DOT registration, and the vehicle’s registration. The carrier’s DOT number, fleet size, safety rating, and insurance coverage are pulled from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s databases.
Weeks two through four. The personal representative is appointed by the court — the one person Ohio law authorizes to bring the wrongful death action. The civil complaint is drafted and filed in Preble County Common Pleas Court, where the death occurred and where the criminal proceedings are pending. Venue in this conservative rural county means the jury will be drawn from Preble County’s population — people who live along this corridor, who know these truck stops, who understand what a semi truck does on that entrance ramp.
Months one through six. Discovery opens. The carrier is required to produce Shaw’s driver qualification file, his employment application, his background investigation, his prior employer inquiries, his driving record, his disciplinary history, and any complaints. The carrier’s compliance file, DOT audit results, and prior enforcement actions are discoverable. The EDR data is downloaded and analyzed by a reconstruction expert. The telematics data — if it was preserved — is mapped against the timeline. The autopsy report is obtained and reviewed with a forensic pathologist.
Months six through twelve. Depositions. The carrier’s safety director explains the company’s hiring choices under oath. The dispatcher explains how Shaw was assigned this route. The corporate representative answers for the carrier’s qualification practices. Shaw himself — if he is not asserting his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in the pending criminal case — may be deposed on the events. Every deposition is preparation for trial, not just information-gathering.
The criminal case. The criminal trial is set for October 27, 2026. A conviction or guilty plea would be powerful evidentiary leverage in the civil case. Under Ohio law, collateral estoppel can have effect in a subsequent civil case — but the doctrine has requirements, including that the issue was actually litigated or admitted, determined by a court of competent jurisdiction, necessary to the final judgment, and identical to the issue in the civil case. Ohio traditionally requires mutuality of parties for collateral estoppel — meaning all parties to the present proceeding must have been bound by the prior judgment. Since the wrongful death plaintiff was not a party to the criminal prosecution, offensive non-mutual collateral estoppel would be needed, which Ohio has allowed only in limited circumstances. Even if collateral estoppel does not apply cleanly, a criminal conviction and the plea colloquy constitute powerful admissions that can be used as evidence in the civil case. The civil case is coordinated with the criminal prosecution — tracking the trial date, monitoring any plea developments, and timing civil discovery to take advantage of what the criminal proceeding establishes.
The number. The case value is built from the evidence, the medicine, the economics, and the law — and it is presented to the carrier’s insurer with the full weight of what discovery produced. If the carrier’s driver qualification file shows red flags that were ignored, the negligent hiring theory becomes a lever that opens coverage the carrier thought was sealed by the intentional-acts exclusion. Mediation may follow — but it should be deferred until the criminal case resolves and maximum civil discovery on carrier hiring practices is complete, because the criminal outcome dramatically increases settlement leverage.
The First 72 Hours: What to Do Now
If you are reading this in the days after Shanae Robinson’s death, here is what matters and what does not.
Do not sign anything from any insurance company. Not a release. Not a authorization for medical records. Not a statement form. Not a settlement offer. Everything the insurer sends is designed to close the case before you understand what it is worth.
Do not give a recorded statement to anyone. Not the carrier’s insurer. Not Shaw’s defense attorney. Not any investigator who is not law enforcement. You have no obligation to help build the defense file.
Do not post on social media. No details of the case. No photos. No statements about what happened. Insurance investigators and defense attorneys monitor social media for anything that can be used to minimize the family’s loss — and in a case like this, even a photograph of the family functioning normally can be mischaracterized.
Do preserve everything you have. Any text messages, phone records, or communications between Robinson and Shaw. Any photographs. Any documents. Anything that shows the relationship, the timeline, or Robinson’s life and contributions. These are part of the damages case.
Do call a lawyer. The preservation letter goes out the day you call. The motor carrier is identified. The evidence clock stops working against you and starts working for you. The appointment of the personal representative begins. The civil case is filed on your timeline, not the insurer’s.
Do understand the two cases are separate. The criminal case against Shaw is the State of Ohio’s case — it exists to punish Shaw. The civil wrongful death case is the family’s case — it exists to recover money and hold accountable every entity that enabled this to happen. These are separate proceedings with different goals, different standards, and different defendants. The family does not need to wait for the criminal case to resolve before starting the civil case. In fact, waiting can hurt — because the evidence is disappearing while the criminal case proceeds.
What If the Carrier Says Shaw Was an Independent Contractor?
This is one of the most common defense moves in trucking litigation, and it is designed to shield the carrier from liability. The carrier will argue that Shaw was an owner-operator leased to the carrier under an independent-contractor agreement, and therefore the carrier is not responsible for his acts.
The answer is that federal motor carrier regulations do not let carriers escape responsibility this easily. Under 49 CFR § 390.5, a motor carrier includes the carrier’s agents, officers, representatives, and employees responsible for hiring, supervising, training, assigning, or dispatching drivers. If the carrier dispatched Shaw, assigned his routes, controlled his schedule, required him to use its equipment or systems, or exercised operational control over his driving — the independent-contractor label may not shield the carrier from vicarious liability or negligent supervision claims. This is a factual question developed through discovery: who controlled the work, who set the routes, who dispatched the loads, who monitored the telematics, who disciplined the driver. The contract says “independent contractor.” The facts may say something different.
How Long Does a Wrongful Death Case Take?
The honest answer: it depends on the complexity, the number of defendants, and whether the case settles or goes to trial. A straightforward wrongful death case against a single defendant with clear liability can resolve in 8 to 18 months. A case involving a negligent hiring theory against a motor carrier — requiring full discovery of the carrier’s qualification practices, depositions of corporate representatives, expert testimony on industry hiring standards, and coordination with a pending criminal case — can take 18 months to 3 years or more.
The criminal case against Shaw is set for October 27, 2026. The civil case can proceed in parallel, and coordination with the criminal prosecution can actually strengthen the civil case — but the family should not wait for the criminal case to resolve before taking civil action, because the evidence clock and the statute of limitations do not pause.
What If the Carrier’s Insurance Denies Coverage Based on the Intentional-Acts Exclusion?
This is the central legal question in the civil case, and the family needs to understand it clearly.
Most commercial insurance policies contain an exclusion for intentional acts — if the insured intentionally causes harm, the policy does not cover it. The carrier’s insurer will argue that Shaw’s murder of Robinson was intentional, and therefore the policy excludes coverage.
The response is that the family’s claim against the carrier is not based on Shaw’s intentional act. The family’s claim against the carrier is based on the carrier’s own negligence — its failure to screen Shaw, its failure to investigate his background, its failure to respond to red flags, its decision to entrust an 80,000-pound commercial vehicle to a person it knew or should have known was dangerous. Those are the carrier’s independent acts of negligence, and they are covered under separate policy provisions that the intentional-acts exclusion may not reach.
Whether this theory succeeds under Ohio insurance law requires careful, case-specific analysis. But it is not a fringe theory — it is the established path to recovering against a motor carrier when a driver commits an intentional act. The key is the carrier’s driver qualification file: if it shows that a proper background check would have revealed dangerous propensities that the carrier ignored, the negligent hiring theory is strong. If the file shows the carrier did a thorough investigation and found nothing, the theory is weaker. We do not know yet what the file contains — which is why preserving and producing it is the first battle.
Can the Family Recover If Shaw Is Convicted in the Criminal Case?
Yes — and a conviction strengthens the civil case. A criminal conviction establishes the underlying intentional killing through the criminal justice system, and that finding can be used as evidentiary leverage in the civil case. Under Ohio law, collateral estoppel can apply to prevent a criminal defendant from relitigating issues that were determined in the criminal case — but the doctrine has requirements, including mutuality of parties and the necessity of the issue to the prior judgment. The family was not a party to the criminal prosecution, so offensive non-mutual collateral estoppel may be needed, which Ohio has allowed only in limited circumstances. Even if full collateral estoppel does not apply, the conviction and any plea colloquy constitute powerful evidence — admissions by the defendant that can be presented in the civil case.
The civil case does not depend on the criminal case, though. The civil case has its own standard of proof — preponderance of the evidence, which is lower than the criminal standard of beyond a reasonable doubt. And the civil case reaches defendants the criminal case does not — the motor carrier, the entity that put Shaw behind the wheel.
What Compensation Is Available in an Ohio Wrongful Death Case?
Ohio wrongful death damages fall into several categories:
Economic damages include funeral and burial expenses, loss of the decedent’s future earning capacity, loss of financial support to dependents, and medical expenses incurred between the injury and death. For a 36-year-old woman, the lost earning capacity can be substantial — decades of income, reduced to present value by a forensic economist.
Non-economic damages include the family’s loss of the decedent’s consortium, companionship, guidance, advice, and counsel, as well as the family’s mental anguish. Ohio does not impose a general statutory cap on wrongful death compensatory damages in the way some states cap non-economic damages in personal injury cases — but the specific rules require verification against current law. The important point is that the full measure of the family’s loss — economic and non-economic — is recoverable if a solvent defendant exists.
Punitive damages are warranted given the intentional, confessed nature of the killing and the staged crash. Ohio treats punitive damages under specific rules that may cap them relative to compensatory damages. The exact cap requires careful analysis against current Ohio law. But the conduct in this case — a confessed murder followed by evidence tampering — is precisely the type of conduct that punitive damages are designed to punish.
The survival component — Robinson’s conscious pain and suffering before death — is a separate element recoverable by the estate. The period between the strangulation and death, however brief, represents conscious suffering that the law recognizes and compensates.
What Should the Family Look for in a Lawyer for This Case?
Not every lawyer who handles car accidents can handle a trucking homicide wrongful death case. This case requires a lawyer who understands three things that do not overlap in most practices.
First, FMCSA regulations and the trucking industry’s driver qualification requirements — because the negligent hiring theory is the path to the carrier’s insurance, and it is built on federal regulatory violations. The lawyer must know what 49 CFR Part 391 requires carriers to do, what a proper driver qualification file contains, and what a missing or deficient file proves.
Second, Ohio wrongful death law and the intentional-acts exclusion problem — because the central legal battle is piercing the insurance exclusion through an independent negligence theory, and that requires understanding both Ohio tort law and Ohio insurance law.
Third, evidence preservation in trucking cases — because the EDR data, the telematics, the dashcam footage, and the truck-stop surveillance are all on clocks measured in days, and a lawyer who does not move immediately will lose them.
Ralph Manginello brings 27 years of trial experience, including federal court. Lupe Peña brings the insider’s knowledge of how insurance companies value and defend claims — because he used to do it from the other side. The firm has recovered millions in trucking and wrongful death cases, including $2.5 million in truck-crash recovery. We do not get paid unless we win your case. The consultation is free. The call is 1-888-ATTY-911, and someone is here 24 hours a day — not an answering service, live staff.
Why the Carrier’s Identity Is the Single Most Important Unknown
Everything in this case — the value, the coverage, the strategy, the timeline — turns on one fact that the public record does not yet supply: who was the motor carrier for whom Shaw was driving?
If Shaw was driving for a large, well-insured national carrier, the insurance tower may include millions in commercial auto liability coverage, general liability coverage, and excess layers. That is the deep pocket that makes a multi-million-dollar recovery possible.
If Shaw was an owner-operator driving under his own authority with only the federal minimum coverage, the insurance pool is smaller — but the federal minimum for general freight carriers is still substantial, and a negligent hiring theory against any entity that leased him or dispatched him may open additional coverage.
If Shaw was driving for a small fleet with a marginal safety rating, the carrier’s own regulatory record becomes part of the case — a carrier with prior DOT audits, enforcement actions, or safety violations has a weaker defense against a negligent supervision claim.
The carrier’s identity is discoverable through Shaw’s CDL records, the vehicle’s DOT registration, and the truck’s registration. Once identified, the carrier’s DOT number, safety rating, insurance filings, and compliance history are public record through the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. This is the first investigation — and it starts the day the family calls.
The Preble County Courthouse and What It Means for This Case
Preble County is rural. The cases here are heard in the Preble County Common Pleas Court. The jury pool is small and conservative. For a wrongful death case, that cuts both ways.
Conservative rural jurors tend to be sympathetic to a wrongful death — especially one involving a confessed killing and a staged crash. They understand loss. They understand that a family has been destroyed. They may have driven past that truck stop on US 40, or merged onto I-70 West at that same entrance ramp. This is their community.
But conservative jurors can also be skeptical of punitive damages and skeptical of claims against a corporate defendant that did not directly commit the harm. This is where the framing matters: the carrier’s negligence is not abstract corporate wrongdoing — it is a community-safety failure. A motor carrier that puts a dangerous driver on I-70 through Preble County endangers everyone who lives there. The family’s lawyer must frame the negligent hiring claim not as a technical regulatory violation but as a choice that put a dangerous person on a road the jury’s neighbors drive every day. When a rural jury understands that the carrier’s failure threatened their own community, the case changes.
Voir dire in this venue should account for these dynamics — identifying jurors who can separate their sympathy for the victim from their evaluation of the carrier’s responsibility, and framing the carrier’s negligence as a safety issue that touches the juror’s own world.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can the family sue if the driver is already being prosecuted criminally?
Yes. The criminal case and the civil wrongful death case are completely separate proceedings with different purposes. The criminal case — the State of Ohio’s prosecution of Shaw for murder — exists to punish Shaw. The civil wrongful death case exists to compensate the family and hold accountable every entity that contributed to the death, including the motor carrier. The family does not need to wait for the criminal case to resolve before filing a civil case. In fact, waiting can hurt — the evidence is disappearing and the statute of limitations is running while the criminal case proceeds.
What if the trucking company says the driver was not their employee?
This is a standard defense move. The carrier may argue Shaw was an independent contractor or leased owner-operator. The answer is that federal motor carrier regulations define a motor carrier broadly to include those responsible for hiring, supervising, training, assigning, and dispatching drivers. If the carrier controlled Shaw’s work — his routes, his dispatch, his schedule, his equipment — the independent-contractor label may not shield the carrier from liability for negligent hiring, supervision, or entrustment. This is a factual question developed through discovery.
How much time does the family have to file a lawsuit?
Two years from the date of death. Ohio Rev. Code § 2125.02(F)(1) requires that a wrongful death action be commenced within two years after the decedent’s death. The clock starts on the day the person died — not the day of the criminal trial, not the day the family realized they could sue. Two years, and the right to recover is gone.
Does the family have to wait for the criminal trial before filing a civil case?
No. The civil case can proceed in parallel with the criminal case. In fact, coordinating the two can be advantageous — the criminal proceeding may produce evidence and admissions that strengthen the civil case. But the family should not delay the civil filing while waiting for the criminal case, because the evidence preservation clock and the statute of limitations do not pause.
What if the insurance company already offered a settlement?
Do not sign it without a lawyer reviewing it. The first settlement offer from an insurance company in a wrongful death case is almost always a fraction of the case’s actual value — and it comes with a release that extinguishes all claims against all defendants, including the carrier. Once signed, the family cannot sue the carrier later, even if they discover the carrier knew Shaw was dangerous. The carrier is offering a small number early precisely because it knows the case is worth far more once the negligent hiring theory is developed.
Can the family recover if the driver has no money?
Yes — if the motor carrier is identified and a negligent hiring, retention, supervision, or entrustment theory is established against it. The individual driver’s assets may be negligible, but the carrier’s insurance coverage may be substantial. The intentional-acts exclusion may bar coverage for Shaw’s direct conduct, but the carrier’s own negligence in hiring and supervising him is a separate basis for liability with separate coverage. This is the theory that turns an uncollectible individual judgment into a multi-million-dollar carrier recovery.
What evidence needs to be preserved immediately?
The most time-sensitive evidence is the carrier’s telematics data — the ELD, GPS, and Qualcomm systems that tracked Shaw’s route, speed, stops, and timing. This data is typically overwritten within 6 to 8 days. The inward-facing dashcam footage, if it exists, overwrites within hours to days. The truck-stop surveillance video overwrites within 7 to 30 days. The EDR black box data can be overwritten on subsequent use or lost if the vehicle is scrapped. The carrier’s driver qualification file may be purged post-incident. A preservation letter to the carrier and all third-party data vendors must go out immediately to freeze this evidence before it disappears.
How is the family compensated for the victim’s pain and suffering?
Ohio law recognizes a survival action — the estate of a person who did not die immediately may recover for the decedent’s conscious pain and suffering experienced before death. In this case, the strangulation was a process that took time — the period between the start of the assault and death represents conscious suffering. The medical records from the hospital, where Robinson was pronounced dead, and the autopsy findings establishing the cause and mechanism of death support this claim. The survival component is separate from the wrongful death damages and is recoverable by the estate.
What if the motor carrier cannot be identified?
The carrier can be identified through Shaw’s commercial driver’s license records, the vehicle’s DOT registration, the truck’s license plate and VIN, and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s databases. If Shaw was driving under his own authority as an owner-operator, his own DOT number and insurance filings are the starting point. If he was driving for a carrier, the carrier’s identity is discoverable through registration records and law enforcement reports from the crash scene. The carrier’s identity is the single most important fact for civil recovery, and it is the first investigation.
Can the family participate in the criminal case?
The family can coordinate with the Preble County prosecutor’s office to track the criminal case — the October 27, 2026 trial date and any plea developments. The family may have rights as victims under Ohio’s victims’ rights laws to be informed of proceedings, to be present, and to provide input. The civil lawyer coordinates with the prosecutor to monitor what the criminal case establishes that can be used in the civil case — confessions, convictions, plea colloquies, and evidence produced in the criminal proceeding.
How much does it cost to hire a wrongful death lawyer?
We work on contingency. That means we do not get paid unless we win your case. The fee is 33.33% of the recovery if the case resolves before trial, and 40% if the case goes to trial. The consultation is free. The family pays nothing out of pocket to start the case. We front the costs of investigation, preservation, expert witnesses, and litigation, and those costs are recovered from the settlement or verdict. If there is no recovery, the family owes us nothing for our time.
Who We Are and Why This Case Fits What We Do
We are Attorney911 — The Manginello Law Firm, PLLC. We are a trial firm that takes Ohio wrongful death and commercial trucking cases, working with local counsel where required. We do not claim an office in Ohio, and we do not invent admissions we do not hold. What we bring is the trial experience, the industry knowledge, and the investigative machinery that a case like this demands.
Ralph Manginello — Managing Partner, 27 years licensed, Texas Bar #24007597, admitted to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. A journalist before he was a lawyer, which means he knows how to find the story the evidence tells. He leads the active $10 million Bermudez v. Pi Kappa Phi / University of Houston hazing lawsuit. He has been in courtrooms for nearly three decades and he hates losing.
Lupe Peña — Associate Attorney, Texas Bar #24084332, admitted to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Former insurance-defense attorney at a national defense firm. He knows how adjusters set reserves, how valuation software prices claims, how IME doctors are selected, and how delay tactics work — because he used to do all of it from the other side. He is fluent in Spanish and conducts full consultations in Spanish without an interpreter.
The firm has recovered $50 million in total, including $5 million in brain-injury settlement, $3.8 million in amputation settlement, $2.5 million in truck-crash recovery, and $2 million in maritime back-injury settlement. Past results depend on the facts of each case and do not guarantee future outcomes. But the method that produced those results — building the number from the medicine, the economics, the law, and the evidence, and refusing to accept the insurer’s first valuation — is what we bring to every case.
We do not represent the family of Shanae Robinson. We have not been retained in this case. This page is legal information, not legal advice. But if someone you love was killed in a trucking homicide in Ohio, the analysis above is exactly what we would do — and the call is 1-888-ATTY-911. The consultation is free. The conversation is confidential. We do not get paid unless we win your case. And someone is here right now — 24 hours a day, live staff, not an answering service.
Hablamos Español. We serve your family fully in Spanish.
The evidence is disappearing. The statute of limitations is running. The carrier’s insurer is already working. The day you call is the day the clock starts working for you instead of against you.