Darnell Amerson Norfolk-Southern Mississippi Railroader Killed

On Friday, July 2, Darnell Amerson died due to injuries sustained in a Norfolk-Southern Railroad train accident.  Amerson was working as a conductor at a train yard owned by Norfolk-Southern Railroad in Meridian, Mississippi at the time of his unfortunate fatal accident.

Early news reports about the accident stated that Amerson was critically injured when a train rolled over him on Thursday, July 1, at approximately 10:50 p.m.  The exact details surrounding the accident are not yet public.  The accident remains under investigation.

According to the Lauderdale County Coroner, Darnell Amerson died early Friday morning in a Meridian hospital from injuries he suffered when a train rolled over him.  Mr. Amerson was sadly was pronounced dead at 1:30 a.m. this past Friday.

Meosha Keepfaith Amerson of Dallas, Texas, said late last week that her family had not yet been given any details into how her cousin was killed in a tragic train accident in Meridian, Mississippi.  In an email, Ms. Amerson, who is originally from Toomsuba, said, “What exactly happened I don’t know. I don’t know all the details yet.”

A spokesman with the Railroad Division of the Mississippi Department of Transportation said late Friday afternoon that Amerson was a conductor working with a switching crew when the incident occurred.

Like many of us, Darnell has a profile set up on Facebook. We look at his picture and feel sad for the young man he was, working hard for the railroad, his life taken much too soon due possibly to unsafe work practices maintained in railyards around the country.

As 45-year veterans of railroad injury litigation, it is hard for our FELA Lawyers to imagine a scenario in which a train rolling over a railroad worker was not caused by some negligence.  Regardless, our thoughts go out to Mr. Amerson’s family at this tragic time.