‘Midnight Rider’ Filmmakers have been charged with involuntary manslaughter after the death of Sarah Jones.
Prosecutors in Georgia’s Wayne county charged filmmakers Randall Miller, Jody Savin and Jay Sedrish with involuntary manslaughter and criminal trespass in the February death of 27-year-old camera assistant Sarah Elizabeth Jones.
Sarah Jones was killed on a train trestle while filming for the upcoming biopic, Midnight Rider.
The accident occurred on February 20th, when Sarah Jones was hit by a train.
The film’s crew were filming outside of Savannah, Georgia. Under Georgia law, a manslaughter conviction carries a sentence of 10 years in prison. While criminal trespass is a misdemeanor and carries a potential sentence of one year.
Randall Miller directed ‘Midnight Rider‘ while his wife, Jody Savin was the producer. Jay Sedrish served as the movies unit production manager and executive producer. Police have been investigating the accident since it first occurred.
There have been several lawsuits filed against Miller, Savin, Sedrish. The parents of Sarah Jones, Richard and Elizabeth Jones filed a wrongful death suit on May 21 claiming that the filmmakers “operated without minimum safety precautions and contrary to standard industry practices for productions of this scale and for productions involving dangerous filming conditions.”
Sarah Jones has become a symbol for workplace safety all across the world.
Several black ribbons were seen during this year’s Oscars ceremony including by Best Sound Editing winner Glenn Freemantle of Gravity in remembrance to Sarah Jones. She was mentioned during the Oscarcast following the In Memoriam segments in a graphic pointing viewers to the Academy’s website.
On Facebook, where the Slates for Sarah page collected photo tributes in memory of Jones with slogans like “We Are All Sarah Jones” and “Remember Sarah.” Several organizations held memorial events including the Society of Camera Operators and the International Cinematographers Guild, which was attended by Jones’ parents Richard and Elizabeth.
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