ASHEVILLE - Parents suing an Asheville bar over a crash that killed their 21-year-old son have asked in a court filing for N.C. Highway Patrol video footage related to the wreck.
Lori Hudson and Anthony Henshaw, the parents of Caleb Hudson Henshaw, filed a petition Oct. 5 in Buncombe Superior Court asking for Highway Patrol footage that was recorded as troopers responded to the wreck involving their son and Eden Alexis Jo Russo, the allegedly impaired driver who collided head-on with Henshaw's vehicle, killing him.
Hudson and Henshaw have alleged in a lawsuit filed late last year that Russo, 32, of Asheville was served alcohol by employees at The Bier Garden at 46 Haywood St., Sept. 8, 2024, shortly before 8:44 p.m., when she was already impaired.
In North Carolina, it's illegal to serve alcohol to someone who is intoxicated.
After leaving the Bier Garden, Russo is alleged to have driven a Jeep west in the eastbound lanes of I-40, at about 8:44 p.m., sideswiping two other vehicles near Mile Marker 43 before colliding head-on with a 2014 Ford vehicle driven by Henshaw. Russo was allegedly driving 75 mph. The speed limit was 60 mph.
Russo was initially charged Sept. 9, 2024 with felony death by motor vehicle, driving while impaired, two counts of hit-and-run failing to stop with property damage, resisting a public officer, driving while license revoked and driving the wrong way on a dual highway.
In January 2025, she was charged with second-degree murder in Henshaw's death. Law enforcement officers later determined after testing Russo's blood that her alcohol content level was 0.27 at the time of the crash, more than three times the legal limit, according to the lawsuit.
Russo is scheduled to appear in Buncombe Superior Court Nov. 16, according to court records.
In a court filing Aug. 5, The Bier Garden denied overserving Russo, a former employee of the bar, and denied all allegations of negligence.
The lawsuit is set to go to trial April 19, 2027, according to court records.
In the petition Oct. 5, attorneys for Hudson and Henshaw wrote that they need the law enforcement recordings from the wreck to determine legal issues related to the wrongful death lawsuit. An attorney for The Bier Garden could not be reached for comment.
Kara Fohner is the Public Safety Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times. Email her at kfohner@usatodayco.com or call her at 980-241-8671.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Parents seek trooper crash video in fatal bar lawsuit
