YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – The wife of a golfer who was killed when a tree fell on his golf cart at a Mill Creek MetroParks golf course filed a lawsuit this week in connection to her husband’s death.
Katie Constantini filed the lawsuit in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court in connection to the death of her husband Brian Constantini. Brian was killed in May 2023 after a tree fell on his golf court at Mill Creek’s north course in Boardman. His brother-in-law, Jordan Hardwick, was in the golf court, too, and is also named as a plaintiff in the lawsuit. Hardwick was able to escape the golf cart after the tree fell on it.
The lawsuit claims that Constantini and Hardwick were participating in a charity golf outing at the course on May 27, 2023, when a large tree at the 17th hole fell on their golf cart.
The suit claims that the tree “had not been properly removed or maintained” that the weather was sunny and “storms or weather were not contributing factors on the day in question.” However, the lawsuit says that inspection and maintenance of the forestry and vegetation at the course had not been done prior to or following severe thunderstorms “as required for the safe maintenance” of the golf course, adding that other trees around the one that toppled were also “in danger of falling”
The lawsuit is claiming negligence, wrongful death, and emotional distress. It asks for judgment against Mill Creek MetroParks and individuals employed by the park system directly responsible for the golf course of no less than $25,000 and an unspecified dollar amount for punitive damages and other relief “as justice requires,” according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday. The law firm Baker, Dublikar, Beck, Wiley and Mathews, out of North Canton, Ohio, filed a document Wednesday with the Court saying it would be representing the park system. No further court dates are listed.
