Scott Clarke / ESPN Images(LONDON) — While discussing her first-round victory at Wimbledon, tennis star Venus Williams broke down when asked about a car crash she was involved in last month that claimed the life of a passenger in another vehicle.
Reporters at the London tournament asked Williams on Monday about her “emotions” this past month and how she was coping, and for the first few minutes she handled it well, keeping her answers focused on her game.
“This is my 20th Wimbledon,” she said. “I’m grateful to be here and to play, I love the game.”
But as reporters continued to press about the accident last month in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, Williams said that in “life, you can’t prepare for everything … I have no idea what tomorrow will bring.”
Williams faces a lawsuit from the family of the 78-year-old man, Jerome Barson, who died from injuries sustained in the June 9 car accident and, according to a police report obtained by ABC News, the tennis star was “at fault.”
“[Williams] is at fault for violating the right of way of [the other driver],” the Palm Beach Gardens police report reads, adding that Barson’s wife, Linda, was driving the vehicle that crashed into the side of Williams’ SUV. Her husband was taken to the local hospital, where he later died from his injuries.
Williams told reporters Monday, “There are really no words to describe, like, how devastating and — yeah. I’m completely speechless,” as she appeared to be holding back tears in the tournament’s media room.
“Maybe I should go,” she said, crying, before the tournament representative told her it was OK to leave. She later came back and answered a few more questions.
The lawsuit, filed by the Barsons’ daughter alleges wrongful death action, and the family is seeking damages in excess of $15,000, according to a copy of the lawsuit obtained by ABC News.
After the accident and Barson’s death, Malcolm Cunningham, an attorney for Williams, noted in a statement to ABC News that authorities did not issue his client with any citations and that “Venus expresses her deepest condolences to the family who lost a loved one.”
Police are still investigating the incident.
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