Family members of the defense become emotional while in Judge Neil Thomas III's courtroom during the fifth day of a civil trial in which Barnes (mother of Hannah Barnes) is suing the Hennen Restaurant Group, alleging that her daughter's Aug. 22, 2011, death on train tracks can be attributed to her consuming alcohol at the restaurant where she worked hours before. Both Hannah Barnes and Michael Hennen died when a train struck them.A Hamilton County Circuit Court today found the Hennen Restaurant Group not at fault in connection with the train death of Hannah Barnes on Aug. 12, 2011.
The 19-year-old Barnes' mother, Lisa, had sued the restaurant group, Norfolk Southern Railway and family members of the deceased Michael Hennen.
Hannah Barnes and Michael Hennen, son of restaurant owner Tim Hennen, died when they were struck by a 250-ton train while lying on railroad tracks near the McDonald Farm in Sale Creek.
Lisa Barnes had alleged that her daughter drank alcohol at the restaurant in downtown Chattanooga in the hours before she and Michael Hennen were struck.