Iowa Supreme Court Dismisses Wrongful Death Claim Filed By Paul Gray’s Widow, But Allows Daughter’s Claim to Proceed
Slipknot bassist Paul Gray died from a drug overdose in 2010, but six years later his family is still dealing with legal issues pertaining to the case. His widow Brenna Gray filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a Des Moines pain doctor, and while her suit was dismissed, she also filed on behalf of her infant daughter and the court ruled that her daughter's suit against Dr. Daniel Baldi may proceed.
The Iowa Supreme Court ruled on Friday (May 6) that Brenna Gray had waited too long to file the wrong death suit, but what made the suit unique was the addition of the couple's child, October Gray, who was not even born at the time of her father's passing.
The first-ever case required the Iowa Supreme Court to determine whether young October could file suit for the loss of her father's consortium even though she was not born at the time of his death.
According to the Des Moines Register, Justice Daryl Hecht wrote, "The young daughter could still suffer the emotional effects of her father's death after her birth, making the claim eligible to be decided by a jury." He later added, "Whatever deprivation of consortium is currently experiencing is no less real just because she did not experience while in utero."
Gray was a patient at Baldi's now closed pain management clinic. In 2012, two years after Gray's passing, the doctor was brought up on manslaughter charges by the Polk County prosecutors for the deaths of Gray and several other patients. Baldi was eventually acquitted, but the suspicion cast upon the doctor's actions led Brenna Gray to file her wrongful death suit against Baldi in February 2014. By July of 2014, a court ruled that Brenna Gray had filed the suit beyond the statute of limitations.
9 Unforgettable Paul Gray Moments
See Where Paul Gray Ranks Among the Top 50 Hard Rock + Metal Bassists of All-Time