Sample only. Names, dates, claim numbers, dollar figures, and the law firm shown above are illustrative. The legal substance, statutory citations, case authority, evidentiary structure, damages framework, beneficiary allocation, and time-limited acceptance mechanics shown here reflect how competent trial counsel drafts a real policy-limit wrongful death demand to a commercial auto carrier under Texas law.
Holloway, Reyna & Iverson LLP
Trial Counsel for Wrongful Death and Catastrophic Injury
1850 Pacific Avenue, Suite 2400
Dallas, TX 75201
Tel: (214) 555-0188 · mreyna@holloway-reyna.example
February 17, 2026
VIA CERTIFIED MAIL,
RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED,
AND ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION
Mr. Howard Becker, Senior Major Case Specialist
National Continental Mutual Insurance Company
Commercial Auto Major Case Unit
PO Box 88402
Dallas, TX 75266
Re: Time-Limited Stowers Demand — Estate of Daniel R. Caldwell, Deceased, by Maria E. Caldwell, Personal Representative, v. Pinnacle Hauling, Inc. and Anthony J. Velasquez
Claim No.: NCM-2025-TX-118247
Date of Death: June 18, 2025
Insureds: Pinnacle Hauling, Inc., and Anthony J. Velasquez (driver, in the course and scope of employment)
Coverage at Issue: $5,000,000 combined single limit, commercial auto liability (MCS-90 endorsed)
Demand Open Through: 5:00 p.m. Central Time, March 19, 2026
Dear Mr. Becker:
This firm represents Maria E. Caldwell, in her capacity as the duly appointed Personal Representative of the Estate of Daniel R. Caldwell, deceased, and in her individual capacity, together with the surviving statutory beneficiaries identified below. We write under the Texas Wrongful Death Act, Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §§ 71.001 et seq., the Texas Survival Statute, Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 71.021, and G.A. Stowers Furniture Co. v. American Indemnity Co., 15 S.W.2d 544 (Tex. Comm’n App. 1929, holding approved). We hereby demand tender of the full available combined single limit of $5,000,000.00 under the Pinnacle Hauling commercial auto policy, for full and final release of your insureds with respect to the death of Mr. Caldwell on June 18, 2025. Your written response is required on or before 5:00 p.m. Central Time on March 19, 2026.
The deadline is set in good faith and is sufficient under controlling Texas authority. Refusal of this demand, counteroffer below limits, silence, or a request for materials this letter and its exhibits already supply will be construed as evidence of Stowers negligence, will expose Pinnacle Hauling to excess-judgment liability above the $5,000,000 single limit, and will preserve a direct or assigned Stowers bad-faith claim against National Continental Mutual together with Texas Insurance Code § 541 and § 542 unfair-claim-settlement-practices exposure.
I. Caption, Standing, and Statutory Beneficiaries
Maria E. Caldwell was issued Letters Testamentary by the Probate Court of Ellis County, Texas, on July 30, 2025 (Cause No. 25-PB-04412, Exhibit A), and stands as the Personal Representative authorized to prosecute survival claims under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 71.021(b). The statutory beneficiaries entitled to recover under the Texas Wrongful Death Act, Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 71.004, are:
- Maria E. Caldwell, age 39, surviving spouse, married to the decedent on October 4, 2008
- E.J. Caldwell, age 11, surviving child, biological son of the decedent
- A.M. Caldwell, age 8, surviving child, biological daughter of the decedent
The decedent’s parents predeceased him and there are no other Wrongful Death Act beneficiaries. The marriage and the parentage of each minor child are documented by the certified records at Exhibit B. No competing personal representative, guardian, or putative beneficiary has filed any claim, contest, or appearance in the Ellis County probate matter.
II. Liability is Clear and Not in Good-Faith Dispute
At approximately 4:48 p.m. on June 18, 2025, Mr. Caldwell was northbound on Interstate 35E in stop-and-go traffic at milepost 401 in Ellis County, Texas, in the outside lane of three. While Mr. Caldwell was lawfully stopped behind the vehicle ahead of him, his 2021 Honda Pilot was struck from behind at high speed by a 2023 Peterbilt 579 tractor pulling a tandem-axle aggregate trailer, owned by Pinnacle Hauling, Inc. and operated by Mr. Anthony J. Velasquez under dispatch from Pinnacle’s Hutchins, Texas terminal.
The Texas Department of Public Safety crash report (CR-3 Report No. TXDPS-25-101884-EL, Exhibit C) attributes the collision to Mr. Velasquez and cites him under Tex. Transp. Code § 545.062 (following too closely) and Tex. Transp. Code § 545.351(a) (speed greater than reasonable and prudent). Investigating Trooper R. Salazar documented a 142-foot pre-impact skid on dry pavement, no evasive maneuver, and an ECM-downloaded pre-impact speed of 64 mph at one second before contact in a traffic queue then advancing at 4-6 mph. Mr. Velasquez admitted at the scene to FMCSA Hours-of-Service violations during the preceding 14-hour duty period and submitted to a post-accident drug screen that returned positive for dextroamphetamine without a corresponding medical certification (Exhibit D). His electronic logging device records (Exhibit E), produced under Pinnacle’s FMCSA-mandated retention, reveal eight separate drive-time violations in the 90 days preceding this collision.
Mr. Velasquez was acting within the course and scope of his employment with Pinnacle Hauling, Inc., which is therefore vicariously liable under respondeat superior. The Estate will additionally plead direct theories of negligent hiring, negligent training, negligent supervision, negligent entrustment, and negligent retention. Mr. Velasquez’s federal Pre-Employment Screening Program record (Exhibit F) discloses three preventable rear-end events and two prior FMCSA drug-screen anomalies in the 36 months preceding his hire by Pinnacle Hauling, all of which were available to Pinnacle at the time of his hire and at every annual review thereafter. Pinnacle’s own FMCSA-required driver qualification file is missing the prior-employer safety performance history mandated by 49 C.F.R. § 391.23(d).
III. Pre-Death Treatment and Survival-Act Damages
Mr. Caldwell was 41 years old, a non-smoker, and in excellent health on the date of loss. His primary care records for the ten years preceding the collision (Exhibit G) are unremarkable for any cardiac, neurologic, or musculoskeletal condition that would have shortened his projected work life or his projected life expectancy.
At the scene, Mr. Caldwell was extricated by the Waxahachie Fire Department after a 22-minute extrication and transported by Air Evac Lifeteam to Methodist Dallas Medical Center, designated Level I trauma center. The Air Evac flight crew documented Mr. Caldwell as conscious, oriented, and verbalizing pain throughout the 17-minute flight (Exhibit H). On arrival at Methodist Dallas, he was triaged with a Glasgow Coma Scale of 13, a flail chest with bilateral hemothoraces, a Grade III splenic laceration, and a closed head injury with frontal contusion. He underwent emergency exploratory laparotomy and splenectomy, bilateral chest-tube placement, and ICU stabilization. Mr. Caldwell remained intubated, sedated, and hemodynamically unstable through the night of June 18 and into the morning of June 19, 2025.
Mr. Caldwell expired at 4:14 a.m. Central Time on June 19, 2025, approximately 23 hours and 26 minutes after impact, of multi-system organ failure and exsanguinating hemorrhage. The Methodist Dallas attending intensivist’s narrative (Exhibit I) and the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s autopsy report (Exhibit J) jointly document conscious pain and suffering at the scene and during the helicopter transport prior to chemical sedation, and survive-state catecholamine and pain-marker elevation during the resuscitation interval. The autopsy concludes the manner of death is accidental and the cause of death is multi-system trauma directly and proximately resulting from the June 18, 2025 collision. These findings establish survival damages under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 71.021 for pre-death pain and suffering, mental anguish, and the funeral and burial expenses incurred by the Estate.
IV. Wrongful Death Damages, Itemized
Damages are documented by the exhibits identified at the end of this letter and by the retained-expert reports referenced below. Past medical specials are stated at amounts billed; the Estate will resolve all healthcare liens, Medicare conditional payments, and ERISA subrogation claims on its side of the settlement upon tender.
| Category | Source | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Survival: pre-death medical (Methodist Dallas, ED, surgery, ICU) | Exhibit K | $284,617.40 |
| Survival: Air Evac Lifeteam transport | Exhibit L | $61,840.00 |
| Survival: pre-death conscious pain, suffering, and mental anguish | § 71.021; Exhibits H, I, J | $850,000.00 |
| Funeral, burial, and final expenses (Restland Funeral Home) | Exhibit M | $24,830.00 |
| Lost financial support (Caldwell, age 41 to age 67; present value) | Dr. Pham economist report, Exhibit N | $2,180,400.00 |
| Lost employer-paid benefits, retirement, and 401(k) match (present value) | Exhibit N | $387,210.00 |
| Lost household services (replacement-cost, two-parent household, two minors) | Exhibit N | $312,860.00 |
| Economic damages, subtotal | $4,101,757.40 | |
| Mental anguish and loss of companionship: surviving spouse | § 71.004 | $1,500,000.00 |
| Loss of parental guidance and companionship: minor child, age 11 to majority | § 71.004 | $1,250,000.00 |
| Loss of parental guidance and companionship: minor child, age 8 to majority | § 71.004 | $1,400,000.00 |
| Total documented wrongful death and survival damages | $8,251,757.40 | |
Total documented damages exceed the available $5,000,000 combined single limit by more than $3,250,000. The non-economic components are anchored to the loss of an involved 41-year-old husband and father of two minors, are conservative against verdicts recently returned in Dallas County and Ellis County for comparable wrongful-death fact patterns, and do not include exemplary damages, which the Estate expects to recover at trial under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 41.003 on the gross-negligence record set out at Exhibits D, E, and F.
V. Statutory Beneficiary Allocation
The Texas Wrongful Death Act distributes recovery among the statutory beneficiaries by their proportionate loss, Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 71.010, with survival damages payable to the Estate under § 71.021 and distributed under the decedent’s will (Exhibit O). Subject to court approval of the minor beneficiaries’ allocations under Tex. Prop. Code Chapter 142, the Estate previews the following allocation, which mirrors the relative pecuniary and non-pecuniary loss documented in the economist report and the family-impact record:
| Beneficiary | Statutory Basis | Allocation |
|---|---|---|
| Estate of Daniel R. Caldwell (Survival Act) | § 71.021 | $1,221,287.40 |
| Maria E. Caldwell (surviving spouse) | § 71.004 | $1,838,712.60 |
| E.J. Caldwell (surviving child, age 11), Section 142 trust | § 71.004; Tex. Prop. Code Ch. 142 | $920,000.00 |
| A.M. Caldwell (surviving child, age 8), Section 142 trust | § 71.004; Tex. Prop. Code Ch. 142 | $1,020,000.00 |
| Total allocation upon tender of $5,000,000 limits | $5,000,000.00 | |
The minor beneficiaries’ allocations will be deposited into Section 142 management trusts upon court approval. The Estate will furnish a draft Section 142 order, an ad litem appointment if your office requires one, and any further probate-side documentation needed for your settlement allocation file.
VI. Stowers Demand and Acceptance Terms
On the basis of the documented liability and the documented damages above, the Estate hereby demands tender of the full $5,000,000 combined single limit in exchange for a full and final release of Pinnacle Hauling, Inc. and Anthony J. Velasquez with respect to the June 18, 2025 collision and the death of Daniel R. Caldwell. The release will follow the standard form approved by the District Courts of Ellis County and will not extend to any other claim, party, coverage, employer, broker-shipper, or independent tortfeasor.
Acceptance. This Stowers demand is open through 5:00 p.m. Central Time on March 19, 2026. Acceptance is effected by your written confirmation of tender, sent to the undersigned by email at mreyna@holloway-reyna.example or by overnight courier, accompanied by a settlement check made payable to “Maria E. Caldwell, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Daniel R. Caldwell, on behalf of all statutory beneficiaries, and Holloway, Reyna & Iverson LLP, as her attorneys.” The check must be received in our Dallas office no later than 5:00 p.m. Central Time on April 2, 2026. No partial tender, no counteroffer, and no request for materials already supplied with this letter will satisfy this demand.
Stowers preservation. This is a properly framed time-limited demand under G.A. Stowers Furniture Co. v. American Indemnity Co.: it is within available limits, the deadline is reasonable, the documented damages credibly exceed the available coverage by more than $3,250,000, and acceptance terms are clearly specified. Any failure to tender on these terms will be evidence of Stowers negligence, will expose Pinnacle Hauling to excess-judgment liability under Phillips v. Bramlett, 288 S.W.3d 876 (Tex. 2009), will support a direct or assigned Stowers bad-faith claim against National Continental Mutual, and will additionally support claims under Texas Insurance Code §§ 541.060 and 542.058 with statutory penalty exposure.
Reservation of rights. The Estate reserves all rights, including all rights against Pinnacle Hauling’s excess and umbrella carriers, all rights against Mr. Velasquez personally to the extent of any uncovered exposure, all rights against any motor carrier broker, shipper, or load-tendering party disclosed during discovery, and all statutory and common-law rights against National Continental Mutual for the handling of this claim. Nothing in this letter waives any right the Estate or any statutory beneficiary now has or later acquires.
VII. Closing, Liens, and Filing Window
Known lien and subrogation interests are: (i) BlueCross BlueShield of Texas, ERISA self-funded plan, asserted lien $237,418.62 (Exhibit P); (ii) Methodist Dallas hospital balance-bill ledger (Exhibit K); and (iii) the funeral-home payment-plan balance (Exhibit M). The Estate will negotiate and resolve all healthcare liens and subrogation claims from settlement proceeds prior to disbursement to the beneficiaries and will deliver a fully executed satisfaction of lien for each lienholder at closing.
Medicare reporting. Mr. Caldwell was not, at the time of death, a Medicare beneficiary. The Estate will execute and return your MMSEA Section 111 Query Response form contemporaneously with acceptance so that the carrier can close out its mandatory reporting obligation under 42 U.S.C. § 1395y(b)(8) without delay.
The Texas statute of limitations applicable to wrongful death and survival claims is two years under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003(b) and runs on June 18, 2027. The Estate does not waive the statute, will not extend it, and intends to file a multi-defendant petition in Ellis County District Court promptly upon expiration of this demand if it is not accepted on the terms set forth above. HIPAA-compliant authorizations for release of records from each treating provider and from the Dallas County Medical Examiner are on file and available on request.
VIII. Exhibits Indexed to This Demand
- Exhibit A — Letters Testamentary, Estate of Daniel R. Caldwell, Cause No. 25-PB-04412 (Ellis County)
- Exhibit B — Marriage license and certified birth records of E.J. and A.M. Caldwell
- Exhibit C — TXDPS CR-3 crash report (No. TXDPS-25-101884-EL) and ECM download
- Exhibit D — Post-accident drug-screen panel and chain-of-custody records, Velasquez
- Exhibit E — ELD Hours-of-Service records and 90-day violation log, Velasquez
- Exhibit F — FMCSA Pre-Employment Screening Program record, Velasquez
- Exhibit G — Decedent’s pre-loss baseline primary care records, ten-year lookback
- Exhibit H — Air Evac Lifeteam flight crew narrative and patient care report
- Exhibit I — Methodist Dallas Medical Center attending intensivist narrative
- Exhibit J — Dallas County Medical Examiner autopsy report and cause-of-death narrative
- Exhibit K — Methodist Dallas itemized billing, ED through ICU expiration
- Exhibit L — Air Evac Lifeteam itemized billing
- Exhibit M — Restland Funeral Home itemized billing and statement of final expenses
- Exhibit N — Dr. Linh Pham, Ph.D., economist report with present-value lost-support, lost-benefits, and household-services calculations
- Exhibit O — Last Will and Testament of Daniel R. Caldwell, dated March 9, 2019
- Exhibit P — BlueCross BlueShield of Texas ERISA lien notice and ledger
Mrs. Caldwell is a credible, sympathetic, and presentable wrongful death plaintiff. The minor beneficiaries are a credible reflection of the family-impact record. The decedent had no meaningful credibility exposures, no prior litigation history, and no pre-existing condition material to projected work life or projected life expectancy. The retained economist, the autopsy pathologist, and the Methodist Dallas attending intensivist will testify clearly. The TXDPS crash investigator will testify clearly. The damages are documented, conservative, and supported by retained experts. An Ellis County jury, properly instructed, will return a verdict meaningfully in excess of the available limits.
We trust your evaluation will produce a prompt tender of the full available limits on the terms above. Please direct all further communication to the undersigned. If you wish to discuss the demand by telephone before responding in writing, I am available at the number on this letterhead.
Very truly yours,
Holloway, Reyna & Iverson LLP
By: ____________________________
Marisol L. Reyna, Esq.
TX Bar #24087411 · Board Certified, Personal Injury Trial Law
cc: Maria E. Caldwell, Personal Representative; ad litem (to be appointed); claim file
Enclosures: Exhibits A through P (indexed)
Sample only. Names, dates, claim numbers, dollar figures, and the law firm shown above are illustrative. The legal substance, statutory citations, case authority, evidentiary structure, damages framework, beneficiary allocation, and time-limited acceptance mechanics shown here reflect how competent trial counsel drafts a real policy-limit wrongful death demand to a commercial auto carrier under Texas law.