Anton Yelchin’s parents filing wrongful death lawsuit against Fiat Chrysler

Yelchin's parents will also file suits against manufacturers AutoNation and ZF North America
Lawsuit: Anton Yelchin
Reuters/Fred Prouser
Emma Powell2 August 2016
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

The parents of actor Anton Yelchin will file a wrongful death lawsuit against Fiat Chrysler.

Yelchin died, aged 27, in June after his Jeep Grand Cherokee rolled backwards and pinned him against a brick pillar on his driveway.

The vehicle was under recall in the US for problems with the gear shifter after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration received nearly 700 complaints about the issue, including 266 accidents.

A spokesperson for Fiat Chrysler told Standard Online: "FCA US LLC extends its sympathies to the Yelchin family for their tragic loss. The Company has not been served with a lawsuit and cannot comment further at this time. FCA US urges customers to follow the instructions in their owners manuals and the information cards sent with their recall notices. These instructions include advising customers to set the parking brakes in their vehicles before exiting."

Yelchin's parents Viktor and Irina Yelchin will also file suits against AutoNation and ZF North America, who manufactured the gear shifter, according to TMZ.

His parents are filing to become administrators of their late son's estate as he did not leave a will.

Yelchin left behind $641,000 (£486,000) in personal property and had $731,000 (£554,000) in equity in his home, according to court documents obtained by People magazine.

Yelchin, who played Paval Chekov in Star Trek, was remembered by his co-stars during the promotional tour of Star Trek Beyond.

Chris Pine said: “This has been a very difficult tour, because we recently lost a good friend of ours who is in the film, and it feels so weird to have to go out and sell this film after the loss of someone very close.”

Speaking at the European premiere director Justin Lin told reporters that he was still “processing” the news.

"I'm still processing, it's still very raw," he told reporters. "He reminds me every day to smile. He had so much passion and so many ideas."

Standard Online has contacted Fiat Chrysler for comment.

Follow @StandardShowbiz for more news.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT