A Houston restaurant owned by NBA star James Harden is accused of plying a diner with alcohol before he killed seven people – including himself and ex-NFL player DJ Hayden – in a car crash.
Thirteen by James Harden is reportedly named in a wrongful death lawsuit – worth more than $1million – filed in Harris County District Court on Monday.
According to ABC, the restaurant is alleged to have ’caused Christian Daniel Herrera’s intoxication’ and provided him with an excessive amount of alcohol.
Herrera, it’s claimed, became ‘obnoxiously intoxicated’ and was a danger to himself and others. He later ran a red light before hitting a vehicle, killing himself and six others.
Hayden, 33, and former University of Houston football players Zach McMillian and Ralph Oragwu were among the victims of the crash, which happened around 2am.
Clippers star Harden, a 10-time All-Star, spent nearly a decade in Houston with the Rockets. He opened Thirteen in 2021, around the time he was traded to the Brooklyn Nets.
A restaurant owned by NBA star James Harden has been named in a wrongful death lawsuit
It comes after seven people – including ex-NFL player DJ Hayden – were killed in a car crash
Thirteen, it’s alleged, ‘had a statutory duty to refrain from providing alcohol to an obnoxiously intoxicated person’
ABC reports that one of the victim’s mothers, Cassaundra Jackson, is seeking more than $1m in damages over the crash in late 2023.
She claims that Thirteen ‘had a statutory duty to refrain from providing alcohol to an obnoxiously intoxicated person’.
At the time, an eyewitness described the collision as ‘sounding like two trains crashing together’.
In a statement to Houston ABC station KTRK, the restaurant said: ‘We cannot imagine what the family of Taylar Jackson has gone through this past year and offer our deepest sympathies to them and everyone whose lives were deeply impacted by that tragic accident.
‘We were just made aware of the filing of this lawsuit. We ask for your patience as we gather more information on this filing and will make a more formal statement as soon as possible.’
A two-time All-Conference USA honoree with Houston, Hayden made national headlines after a collision in practice caused a tear of the main vein carrying blood from the lower half of the body to the heart.
Doctors at the time said the injury was 95 per cent fatal but decisive work from medics and surgery helped Hayden survive.
He was discharged from the hospital a week later and was selected 12th overall in the 2013 NFL Draft. The cornerback spent nine seasons in the NFL and also played for the Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars and Washington Commanders.
