PHILADELPHIA — Thaduba Magdalena Turay, a 21-year-old nursing student, was driving on I-95 in South Philadelphia last year when a driver traveling the wrong way hit her head-on.

Turay, who was studying at Cheyney University and aspired to become a doctor, died at the scene.

The other driver, David Bonilla, 47, pleaded guilty last month to homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, according to court records.

But Turay's parents are seeking accountability for the crash from the bars that allegedly served Bonilla drinks that night, the latest lawsuit in a Philadelphia court to invoke Pennsylvania's law that extends liability to establishments with a liquor license for actions a drunk person takes after being overserved.

These prohibitions, known as dram shop laws, have been enacted in most states and attempt to reduce harmful consequences of alcohol consumption, such as car accidents involving drunken driving, which contribute to 34 deaths in the United States every day. The laws assist in reducing these fatalities, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In June, Samuel and Fatmata Turay filed a lawsuit in Philadelphia's Common Pleas Court against Nickels Tavern on Second Street and Live! Casino & Hotel in the stadium complex, alleging they served alcohol to a visibly intoxicated person.

"Business owners like the Live! Casino Defendants, and Defendant, Nickels Tavern, must not create unsafe conditions ... [and] must not permit unsafe conditions to continue to exist at their establishment," the lawsuit says.

After drinking at Nickels Tavern and Live! Casino, the suit says, Bonilla entered I-95 on an exit ramp about 2:40 a.m. on April 14, 2024, and sped south in the northbound lanes, striking Turay's car as she was driving to work.

"The force of the impact delivered by the speeding Bonilla Audi was so severe that it knocked Thaduba's vehicle across multiple lanes of travel on I-95," the complaint says.

There are two basic service rules that establishments with liquor licenses need to adhere to when serving drinks: They cannot serve minors, and they cannot serve visibly intoxicated people. Bonilla was visibly intoxicated while at Live! Casino and Nickels, the suit says.

Joseph Paoloca, the manger of Nickels, said that the bar is careful about not serving people who seem to have had one too many. He says he has taken customers' car keys, ordered them rideshares, and even driven them home to ensure they end their night safely.

"I can guarantee you that we did not serve an intoxicated person," Paoloca said. "You want your customers coming back, so it's in your best interest to take care of your customers."

The manager himself lost his daughter in a car crash, he said, and called the crash that killed Turay a tragedy. And while Paoloca said his bar is stringent about not serving visibly intoxicated people, he said the driver is ultimately responsible for his actions.

"Here is an adult that makes a dumb mistake, it costs somebody their life, a young girl," he said. "I believe that there should be major consequences for him. I don't believe it's the bar's fault."

Live! Casino & Hotel did not respond to a request for comment. Bonilla's criminal attorney, Joseph Kevin Kelly, declined to comment.

Proving visible intoxication

To win a dram shop case in court, attorneys need to show through evidence — such as testimony of people who were at the bar, receipts of drink purchases, and blood alcohol levels — that the person was likely visibly intoxicated while being served, said Alex Hyder, a Philadelphia attorney with Morgan & Morgan.

Hyder filed a lawsuit in the Philadelphia court in April against Sly Fox Brewing Co. for serving William Scherfel in the brewery's Pottstown location on March 14. Scherfel, 27, was at the brewery for about six hours, the suit says, before getting behind the wheel and crashing into Stephanie Goggins' car in Spring City, Chester County.

Goggins, 34, a mother of three, shattered both her legs, according to the complaint.

Scherfel's blood alcohol level was nearly twice the legal threshold for intoxication, according to the suit and police. He was charged with DUI and recklessly endangering another person, among other charges, court records show.

Neither Scherfel's nor Sly Fox's attorneys responded to a request for comment.

"This gentleman made it 14 minutes down the road," Hyder said. He was deemed drunk at the scene of the crash by police, the attorney said, so "it's common sense" that he showed signs of intoxication at the bar.

In a court filing, Scherfel argued that the complaint improperly characterized his conduct as motivated by ill will and asked the court to pause the proceedings while the criminal prosecution plays out.

Big money

Pennsylvania's dram shop law is part of the state's liquor license regulations from the mid-20th century. It took another couple of decades for the prevalence of the lawsuits to increase.

In the 1980s, bars and club owners said that the new trend in litigation put them on the brink of shutting down because of rising insurance bills.

The insurance crisis that bars faced is in the past, said Ben Fileccia, senior vice president for strategy and engagement at the Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association, which represents the hospitality and tourism industries.

One factor that has improved safety and insurance premiums for establishments that serve liquor is an emphasis on training and safeguards, Fileccia said. Bars and restaurant owners invest in Pennsylvania's Responsible Alcohol Management Program, which teaches managers and servers how to identify signs of intoxication.

Some insurers offer lower rates to businesses certified through the program, Fileccia said. And these efforts have a safety benefit that goes beyond reducing liability, he said.

But dram shop lawsuits can still result in staggering awards, even when the people who ordered the drinks harmed themselves.

In February, Common Pleas Court Judge Vincent Johnson ordered a Bensalem bar to pay Alexis Meehan $11.6 million for having served her while she was intoxicated.

Meehan, of Bensalem, spent Oct. 22, 2022, drinking with Alyssa Cain, of Levittown, at Pasquale's Sports Bar & Pizzeria. After they left the bar, Meehan crashed her car on I-95 while trying to merge lanes, according to the complaint.

Both women, in their 20s, suffered significant injuries. The bar never responded to the litigation and the judge awarded the two $44.7 million, with $33 million for Cain.

Pasquale's Sports Bar & Pizzeria's liquor license was suspended earlier this year for violations unrelated to the crash, and the bar is currently closed, said Robert Lynch, an attorney with Hoffman, Sternberg, Karpf & Lynch who represents Meehan.

The Inquirer was unable to reach Pasquale's or its owner based on publicly available contact information.

Both Meehan and Cain are adults who decided to order the drinks and get into the car. But that does not absolve the bar from responsibility under the dram shop law.

The goal of dram shop laws is to protect people, including from themselves, Lynch said. Servers are presumably sober and thus have better judgment than the patrons.

"The bar has the duty of care, even if the person who has been drinking also shares some responsibility," Lynch said.

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