During an early morning hour of Feb. 7, 2016, plaintiffs’ decedent Nadesan Ravichandran, 53, a mortgage loan officer, was struck by a motor vehicle. The incident occurred on Hawthorne Boulevard, near Carson Street, in Torrance. Ravichandran suffered a fatal injury. The decedent’s wife, Chandrakala Ravichandran, and his minor son, Dwaraknath Ravichandran, sued the vehicle’s driver, Daniel Yokomizo, and a believed owner of Yokomizo’s vehicle, Candice Yokomizo. The lawsuit alleged that Daniel Yokomizo was negligent in the operation of his vehicle. The lawsuit further alleged that Candice Yokomizo was vicariously liable for Daniel Yokomizo’s actions. Candice Yokomizo was dismissed. The matter proceeded against Daniel Yokomizo. Plaintiffs’ counsel contended that Daniel Yokomizo contacted the decedent within a protected “safety zone,” outside of a travel lane. Defense counsel claimed that the decedent was crossing in the middle of the street, rather than at an intersection, and that Yokomizo did not see the decedent crossing in the middle of a major boulevard at night. Counsel also claimed that the decedent was in dark-colored clothing, face down on the roadway, mid-block and outside a crosswalk, and that the decedent was intoxicated to an extent three times beyond the limit for driving at the time of his death., Nadesan Ravichandran sustained traumatic and was pronounced dead at the scene. He was 53 years old when he died on Feb. 7, 2016. He was survived by his wife of 19 years, Chandrakala Ravichandran, who was a homemaker at the time of the incident, and their son, Dwaraknath Ravichandran, who was a 17-year-old college student at the time of his father’s death. The decedent’s family sought recovery of wrongful death damages. Plaintiffs’ counsel asked the jury to award the decedent’s family $15,075,000.