Lawsuit Planned in Death Tied to Early Release of Prisoners

OLYMPIA (AP) — The family of a woman killed following a crash in a car driven by a prisoner who was mistakenly released early is planning to sue the state.

A tort claim was filed Tuesday against the state Department of Corrections on behalf of Jane and Craig Noel's two grandsons, the 14-year-old and his 8-year-old brother, The Seattle Times reports . A dollar amount has not yet been set. The Noel's daughter, 35-year-old Lindsay Hill, died in November 2015. Her boyfriend, 39-year-old Robert Jackson, was convicted of vehicular homicide in July for her death.

The filing of a tort claim is the first step before an official lawsuit can be filed. Hill was one of two deaths tied to the early release of more than 3,000 prisoners due to a software coding error. Jackson was released from prison in August 2015, four months too soon. He had been convicted of robbery with a deadly weapon and should have been released in December of that year.