The heartbroken son of Derrick Griffith, the beloved City University of New York Medgar Evers College dean of students, said Tuesday he intends to sue for damages.
Griffith, 42, was one of the eight passengers killed in last week’s crash outside Philadelphia.
“I never told him this, but he’s always been everything I wanted to be,” said a weeping Darryus Griffith, 24. “I never thought I was smart or strong enough. How he can come into a room and capture everybody’s smile and be loved. I’ll always respect and admire him.”
The younger Griffith said his dad was devoted to inner city students.
LUPICA: FAMILIES OF AMTRAK CRASH VICTIMS DESERVE ANSWERS
“He wanted to give people and kids the opportunity to better their lives, to get into college,” he said. “He wanted to give them a chance.”
The grieving son said his father was also a devoted dad, who raised him on his own.
“He raised me all his life, and there’s nothing I can say that, you know, to express how I feel about the situation,” said the Bronx native.
Darryus Griffith spoke out at the offices of his lawyer Steven Schwartzapfel in Jericho, L.I. He said the last time he talked to his dad was on Mother’s Day.
“There’s no amount of money that will compensate this family for that loss,” said Schwartzapfel. “At first glance, it appears that Amtrak was negligent in its ownership, operation, maintenance and control of that train.”
But Schwartzapfel said they will wait for National Transportation Safety Board to release their findings before they file suit. And he declined to say whether they would challenge the $200 million per-passenger Amtrak payout cap that was established by Congress.
EDITORIAL: JOHN BOEHNER SPUTTERS ON AMTRAK FUNDING
Schwartzapfel also said they are trying to finalize funeral plans for Griffith.
Four people on the doomed train — including conductor Emilio Fonseca and dispatcher Bruce Phillips — have already filed federal lawsuits against Amtrak.
The most recent was from passenger Michael Walsh, who was sitting in the wrecked first car and “sustained severe personal injuries” that “required multiple surgeries,” according to a suit filed in Manhattan federal court.
Funerals for four of the victims have already been held and the family of Italian victim Giuseppe Piras is still trying to bring his body home for burial.
The NTSB said it could take up to a year before they know for sure what caused the deadly crash.
Amtrak Train 188 was going more than twice the speed limit at 106 mph when it hit a curving stretch of track and derailed.
Engineer Brandon Bostian, who lives in Queens, told his lawyer “he has absolutely no recollection” of the wreck.
But an assistant train conductor told investigators she heard Bostian mention the windshield of the train had been hit with an object before the crash.
The NTSB has ruled out gunfire, but not the possibility something else might have hit the windshield.
ON A MOBILE DEVICE? WATCH THE VIDEO HERE.
With Dareh Gregorian
