UPDATE: Tentative settlement reached in Aaron O'Neal suit

COLUMBIA — A tentative settlement agreement has been reached in the three-and-a-half-year-long wrongful death lawsuit filed by the parents of MU football player Aaron O’Neal against employees of MU's athletic department, according to documents filed in Boone County Circuit Court.

In a letter to the court’s civil division, attorney Michael C. Rader, who represents Aaron O'Neal's mother, Deborah O'Neal, said the case “recently settled.” The letter also states that a hearing to decide whether to approve the settlement terms would be scheduled soon. In Missouri, settlements must be approved by the court before they are considered binding.

“At this stage, we can’t talk about any settlement details, but from what I understand, we should be able to shortly,” Rader said. “My understanding is that once a settlement is approved by the court, all parties will send out a press release with the details.”

The lawsuit was filed in 2005 by Lonnie O’Neal, the father of Aaron O’Neal, the 19-year-old MU football player who collapsed during a training practice and died shortly after at University Hospital on July 12, 2005. Deborah O'Neal was later added to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges that MU coaches and trainers failed to properly care for Aaron O'Neal after he collapsed during the workout.

UM System General Counsel Steve Owens said discussions had been ongoing between the university and the O'Neals since the lawsuit's filing and that the parties had taken part in an independent mediation in St. Louis on Feb. 19.

Owens said he could not discuss any dollar amount that was sought but could "confirm that there has been a tentative settlement agreement and that we are going to present that to the court for its consideration and approval," he said.

The University of Missouri System, which contracted the firm of Ford, Parshall and Baker to represent the 14 defendants in the lawsuit, had spent almost $375,000 in legal defense costs as of Feb. 25, according to documents obtained by the Missourian under the Sunshine Law.

W. Hamp Ford Jr., who represents the defendants including MU Athletic Director Mike Alden and MU football coach Gary Pinkel, said that he couldn't talk about any particular settlement agreement in the case at this time.

"I would anticipate that there will be some further filings about that matter soon," Ford said.

Calls to Lonnie O'Neal and his attorney, Robert D. Blitz, were not returned.

On July 12, 2005, O'Neal was participating in a voluntary football workout when he became distressed while running drills. Later, he collapsed inside the door of the locker room after being helped off the field by other players.

“When the coach observed Aaron lying on the turf, he asked all the players to move forward so that a staff trainer could render assistance. The individual approached and stated that there was nothing that could be done,” former Boone County Medical Examiner Valerie Rao wrote in O'Neal's autopsy report released on Aug. 23, 2005.

According to the report, an unnamed staff member placed O'Neal in an MU landscaping truck and then transported him to the Tom Taylor athletic facility where trainers decided not to use a defibrillator on O'Neal because he had a heartbeat. 

Athletic trainer Greg Nagel called 911. O'Neal was loaded into an ambulance about 10 minutes later and taken to University Hospital. He was pronounced dead about 30 minutes later at 4:05 p.m.

The lawsuit alleges that the decision to take O'Neal to the training facility instead of University Hospital, which is across the street from Memorial Stadium, was a breach in the trainers' duties.

Rao wrote in her report that some players said they didn't think the training staff had taken O'Neal's collapse seriously and hadn't responded quickly enough.

In her report, Rao said that O'Neal's death was caused by lymphocytic meningitis.

But University Hospital neurologist Douglas Anthony, who examined Aaron O’Neal brain after his death, found characteristics of sickled red blood cells, which is commonly found in a person with sickle-cell trait.

In a letter to Rao summarizing the pathology report, Anthony wrote: “While 8 percent of African Americans have sickle-cell trait, it is worth noting that sickle-cell trait is associated with a 40-fold increased risk of sudden death.”

The lawsuit was amended to include the allegation that O'Neal died from "a vascular crisis caused by sickle-cell trait and extreme physical exertion" and that coaches and trainers did not take sufficient precautions necessary for someone with the trait.

According to a previous Missourian story, a special task force of the National Athletic Trainers Association found that at least 15 college football players, including Aaron O’Neal, had died as a result of a blood-vessel blockage caused by sickle-cell trait from 2000 to 2007. 

The report listed sickle collapse as the No. 3 most common cause of sports deaths among high school and college athletes behind heatstroke and cardiovascular conditions.

MU student athletes have the option of being tested for sickle-cell trait. Though  the test is not required, many athletes opt to undergo the test, according to a July 13, 2007 Missourian story.