Natchez, Jackson & Columbus Railroad v. Cook
Natchez, Jackson & Columbus Railroad v. Cook
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
On the facts of record we concur in the conclusion reached in the court below, that the deceased was a minor, and had not been emancipated by his mother at the time of his death.
It may be conceded that the suit could not be maintained by appellee, as the mother of the child, under § 1510 of the code, and the amendment thereto made by the act of 1884, and that it is the doctrine of the common law that a civil action cannot be prosecuted to recover damages for an injury resulting in the death of a human being, but there is still a phase of the case in favor of appellee’s right to sue. Death did not result instantly from the injuries received by the deceased. As surviving parent, the mother was entitled to the services of her child, and, without reference to the statute, she might sue for and recover at least the value of his services from the date of the injuries received by him to his death,
Affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Natchez, Jackson and Columbus Railroad Company v. Nancy Cook
- Cited By
- 12 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Minor. Killed in employ of railroad company. Right of mother to sue for damages. Where a minor, in the discharge of his duty as an employee of a railroad company, receives injuries through the negligence of the company, from which he dies three days afterward, his mother, being his only surviving parent, is entitled by the common law (her son not having been emancipated) to recover of the railroad company damages for the loss of his services from the time the injuries were received by him till his death, and for any incidental expenses incurred by her during that time for medical attention to, and care and nursing of, him.