ANDERSON — A civil lawsuit brought by two Delaware county teens against an Alexandria man after he allegedly opened fire with a shotgun at their vehicle has been settled for an undisclosed sum.
Anderson attorney Lisa DeLey, who represented Kristin M. Waechter, 18, Muncie, and Kelsey L. Beatty, 17, Daleville, said the terms of the settlement were confidential but she was pleased with the outcome. The deal was reached through mediation in March.
“Since it’s a confidential settlement, I can’t say much,” DeLey said Tuesday. “They are great girls with bright futures, despite the bad memory that will remain with them because of Mr. Eden’s reckless disregard for their lives.”
The teens filed their lawsuit against Bobby and Sharon Eden in September, two months after 60-year-old Bobby Eden allegedly fired a shotgun at the car the teens were in after they mistakenly drove onto his property.
Prosecutors charged Eden in connection with the alleged shooting. He’s charged with battery by means of a deadly weapon and criminal recklessness, both Class C felonies punishable by two to eight years behind bars. He’s scheduled to stand trial beginning at 1 p.m. Tuesday, June 10, in Madison Superior Court 3.
According to the probable cause affidavit filed with the charges:
The two teens were looking for a friend’s home in Alexandria when they became lost and drove into the Edens’ driveway in the 6500 block of North Indiana 9 at about 11:45 p.m. on July 14, 2007. The teens later told police they pulled into the driveway to use a cell phone to call their friend for directions.
Beatty, who was driving the Ford Escort they were in, told police she saw a man, later identified as Bobby Eden, walk up and fire a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun several times at the car, shattering the Escort’s passenger and rear window.
Waechter ducked when Eden opened fire, but Beatty was struck in the arm by several buckshot pellets, according to the sheriff’s department report. The teens quickly drove away and used a cell phone to call 911.
Sheriff Ron Richardson previously told The Herald Bulletin that Eden reported seeing someone drive around his barn earlier that day. Eden told investigators he thought the same car had returned that night. Eden said he yelled at the girls to identify themselves several times, but when they didn’t, he fired a single time into the air. He thought Beatty was going to run him over, and he told investigators he accidentally fired the shotgun. The affidavit doesn’t indicate if the teens heard Eden ask them to identify themselves.
Bobby Eden couldn’t be reached, but his wife declined comment about the settlement. The couple’s attorney, Jason Childers of Anderson, also declined to comment about the lawsuit settlement. Childers is also representing Bobby Eden for the criminal charges, and also declined comment on that case as well.
Beatty did not return a message seeking comment. Michael Waechter, Kristin’s father, declined to discuss the settlement.
The teens sought unspecified damages. The lawsuit claimed Bobby Eden failed “to exercise reasonable and ordinary care in storage and safekeeping of a firearm” and was negligent in firing the shotgun. The lawsuit sought compensation for the teens’ temporary and permanent disability, physical and emotional pain, and medical expenses related to the incident. Indiana Farmers Insurance Co., The Edens’ homeowners insurance provider, was also named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
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8:53 p.m.: Lawsuit settled in alleged shooting
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