California family sues Amazon after driver hits, kills 2-year-old girl
IRVINE, Calif. (KTLA) — A family in Orange County, California, is filing a wrongful death lawsuit after a 2-year-old girl was struck and killed by an Amazon delivery van in 2022.
The family’s attorney says Amazon is denying any responsibility for the deadly accident and claims a third party is to blame. The victim’s family is devastated and says they only want justice.
In August 2022, 2-year-old Jiahan Wu was playing outside of her Irvine apartment complex when she was struck and killed by an Amazon delivery van. The driver remained at the scene, but the damage done was catastrophic.
Her mother, Yanling Wu, says there are no words to describe the pain she, her husband and their three children are going through.
“The loss to my family — I cannot express with words,” said Wu.
She said the trauma of witnessing the fatal collision makes it hard to sleep at night.
“Myself, my husband, all my kids, are having constant nightmares thinking of our loved one who is gone,” said Wu.
The family’s attorney, Michael Alder, said Amazon refuses to turn over dashcam video of the incident or any further information without a confidentiality agreement.
Alder says the company also claims that, because the driver was contracted through a third-party source, Amazon is not liable.
“We believe the public needs to know what Amazon is saying behind the scenes,” said Alder. “When we asked Amazon to accept responsibility for a clearly negligent driver, they said 'it’s not our responsibility.'”
The family is hoping that their 21-page wrongful death lawsuit will hold the tech giant accountable for the actions of the delivery driver and prevent this from happening to other families.
“We have the resources. We have the ability to fight them — but what happens to the next and the next and the next?" asked Alder. “We don’t want that to happen to our client in this case, but we don’t want it to happen to anyone in the future.”
KTLA reached out to Amazon for comment and received a statement saying, “We extend our deepest condolences to this family for the loss they’ve suffered.”
The Amazon spokesperson noted that the company does not generally comment on active litigation.
The Irvine Police Department said the driver has not been charged in this case and it doesn't anticipate any future charges.