$125,000 settlement in plane-crash death

Separated from her daughter for a decade, joyously reunited when her daughter had grown up, only to be separated forever by an untimely, unneccessary death: Sherry Scarborough told a heart-rending story in her wrongful-death lawsuit against the estate of her daughter's fiance.

Scarborough in February also convinced Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Anita Farris that her daughter, Ginger Brown, had provided much of Scarborough's income before being killed at age 27 in a private plane piloted by Gary Severson, her 34-year-old fiance.

That gave Scarborough the right to sue Severson's estate, according to state law. The law allows parents to sue for wrongful death of adult children only if they prove they were substantially dependent financially on the adult child.

Scarborough and lawyers for Severson's estate and Sturdy Weld, a Lynnwood truck-parts manufacturing company he founded, have arrived at a settlement: $125,000.

"She seems reasonably pleased," Adam Chanak, Scarborough's lawyer, said yesterday.

Scarborough, who lives in Needles, Calif., could not be reached for comment.

The settlement was reached Friday after two mediation sessions with Farris.

Although the amount is larger than the settlements Brown's two children received, it's unclear how much Scarborough, 51 and nearly destitute according to court testimony, will end up with after attorney fees.

Shirley Jellison, controller for Sturdy Weld, said she doubted the settlement amount was worth the pain the lawsuit had caused and the secrets it had revealed.

In the hearings to prove she was financially dependent on Brown, Scarborough revealed her daughter had been working in Nevada as a prostitute when she met Severson.

"That woman went through hell. It took 10 years off her life," Jellison said of Scarborough. "I felt sorry for her all along. I think for what she went through she didn't get much."

Scarborough traveled to Snohomish County Superior Court in February from her home in California seeking $3 million and, she said, to "stand up for my daughter."

Chanak argued that Brown and her mother had become very close since reuniting when Brown was 17. Chanak said Brown had provided 40 percent of Scarborough's meager income but his client, who kept greeting cards from her daughter, had not kept the cancelled checks.

Russell Hermes, lawyer for Severson's estate, argued that not only were there no records but that Brown couldn't have contributed to Scarborough's income because neither Brown nor Severson had spare cash.