Kilroy’s Sports Bar and its parent company Intrepid LLC settled a wrongful death lawsuit with Nate Stratton’s family late last month after a nearly three-year legal process.
Brad and Elizabeth Stratton, whose son Nate was killed by a drunk driver Sept. 18, 2022, were the plaintiffs in the civil suit that alleged Kilroy’s Sports recklessly overserved the driver, Madelyn Howard.
As part of the settlement, Kilroy’s Sports pledged to donate $60,000 per year to a program preventing drunk driving deaths in Bloomington, according to a statement to the IDS by law firm Green and Schultz, who represent the Strattons. The agreement does not specify which program will receive the money, but Kilroy’s and the Stratton family are working to determine which cause to donate to.
“The Stratton Family will work with Kilroy's Sports, the Indiana chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), and other constituents in Bloomington to raise awareness of the dangers of drunk driving, and build a prevention program in the community,” the statement said.
Further details of the settlement are unavailable due to a confidentiality agreement, attorney Fred Schultz told the IDS.
“There are no winners in the case because Nate is gone,” the family said in their statement. “We will be working with Kilroy’s Sports, MADD and others to build an advocacy campaign to honor Nate’s memory and prevent this tragedy from happening again.”
Howard worked at Kilroy’s, where she celebrated a friend’s birthday the night she swerved into a bike lane on Walnut Street and struck Nate. She was not working on the night of the incident.
A breathalyzer test later determined her blood-alcohol content was 0.226, nearly three times the legal limit. An appellate decision said Howard took shots of hard liquor, and she was described as having liquor poured into her mouth.
A wrongful death lawsuit initially filed against Howard was amended in May 2023 to include Kilroy’s, in which the family’s legal team alleged the bar continued to serve her when she was visibly intoxicated.
Howard pleaded guilty to level 3 felony leaving the scene of an accident and level 4 felony operating a vehicle while intoxicated in March 2024. She was sentenced to 10 years in prison plus two years of probation that May.
She appealed the judge’s ruling shortly after, but her appeal was denied last July.
“Howard’s argument regarding the nature of her offense does not persuade us that her sentence is inappropriate,” the appellate decision read. “In fact, the circumstances of this case might even justify a lengthier sentence, but we choose to affirm the trial court who was in the best position to consider the evidence and credibility of those who testified.”
Howard is currently serving her sentence at Indiana Women’s Prison in Indianapolis.
