The estate of a 31-year-old homeless woman who died after she hurried across two lanes of U.S. 26 at night has agreed to drop a wrongful death lawsuit in exchange for receiving a $305,000 settlement from the two drivers who struck her.

The mother of Savannah Munden was scheduled to go to trial this week against the first driver, who was drunk when he hit Munden on a Highway 26 on-ramp just east of the Vista Ridge Tunnel near downtown Portland. Brent McCune had a blood alcohol level of .22 percent 2 ½ hours after his Volkswagen Jetta struck Munden on Aug. 8, 2016, shortly before 10:30 p.m., according to police and the Munden family’s lawyer.

The legal limit for driving is .08 percent.

McCune, who was 67 at the time of the crash, was sentenced to 30 days in jail for driving under the influence of intoxicants and hit-and-run driving. He fled the scene to his Beaverton home before calling 911 to turn himself in.

He wasn’t prosecuted for causing Munden’s death because prosecutors couldn’t determine whether a sober driver would have been able to avoid hitting Munden. It also was unclear if McCune or the second driver caused her death.

She had been making her way to a grassy median, where she planned to visit a friend who was camping there.

The second driver, Salvador Santillan Gomez, dragged Munden 348 feet. Unlike McCune, he stopped and stayed at the scene. He wasn’t charged with any crimes.

McCune and his insurance company agreed to pay $255,000 to settle the lawsuit. Although Gomez wasn’t listed as a defendant in the lawsuit, Gomez’s insurer agreed to pay $50,000.

The lawsuit had sought $9.5 million solely from McCune.

Travis Mayor, a lawyer representing Munden’s estate, wrote in court papers he thought settling the case was the right decision because there was a “significant risk” that a jury might find Munden more than 50 percent at fault “for crossing a freeway onramp at night in a place not meant for pedestrian crossing.” That finding would mean her estate would get nothing.

But he also said evidence could have led a jury to find McCune mostly responsible for Munden’s death. He said McCune admitted to drinking the equivalent of 12 drinks at the Broadmoor Golf Course in Northeast Portland before the crash: two India Pale Ale beers, two double gin-and-tonic cocktails and three double bourbons, according to Mayor.

“He had a huge line of sight, plenty of time to react, the visibility was good and it was well lit,” Mayor said.

In court filings, McCune’s lawyers said Munden had to make her way past barriers and fencing to get onto the freeway, and she was wearing dark clothing and crossing at a “blind corner” as the onramp curved.

It’s not clear exactly where Mundeen was when she was hit. Her family believed she had made it across two westbound lanes of the freeway and that McCune veered over the fog line. McCune contended she was still in the lanes of traffic.

McCune didn’t respond to a request for comment made through one of his lawyers, John Barhoum.

Barhoum said the facts and legal issues in the case were “relatively complex.”

“It is often in the best interests of the respective parties to resolve such cases short of trial,” he said.

Mayor said the lawsuit didn’t seek economic damages because Munden was disabled, didn’t work and died immediately so she didn’t incur medical expenses. The noneconomic damages the suit had sought were capped at $500,000 under Oregon law because it was a wrongful death case, he said. And $500,000 was the most McCune’s insurance would pay out, he said.

Munden is survived by her 17-year-old daughter and parents, Kim Munden of Coos Bay and Daniel Munden of Colorado.

In court papers filed weeks before the settlement was reached, McCune’s lawyers said Munden’s parents shouldn’t financially benefit from her death because their parental rights to Munden had been terminated. The lawyers wrote that the pair had “deserted” or “neglected” Munden in the 10 years leading up to Munden’s 18th birthday.

McCune’s lawyers also said Munden’s daughter wasn’t legally entitled to a wrongful death payout because Munden’s parental rights to her daughter were terminated and the girl was adopted before she reached age 5. Multnomah County Circuit Judge Melvin Oden-Orr ruled last month that Munden’s father and daughter weren’t beneficiaries in the wrongful death case.

Mayor, the lawyer for Munden’s estate, disagreed with some of the information presented by McCune’s defense. Mayor said Munden’s mom had “an ongoing relationship” with Munden and had lived with her a couple of years before that deadly night.

On the night of Munden’s death, a second person -- Munden’s fiance, Timothy Berg -- had been crossing the highway with her and was hurt when McCune’s side-view mirror struck his head.

Berg, 45, filed his own $9.5 million lawsuit against McCune -- claiming he suffered soft tissue damage, a traumatic brain injury and a concussion.

Berg’s lawsuit also had been scheduled to go to trial starting this week, but Berg also agreed to settle. Lawyers for both sides said Berg’s settlement amount was confidential.

Berg’s lawyer, Joshua Callahan, said his client is “doing better” in the three years that have passed.

“He is no longer homeless and he is looking forward to a fresh start with this whole thing behind him,” Callahan wrote in an email to The Oregonian/OregonLive. “He dearly misses the love of his life, Savannah, but knows he needs to move forward to honor her memory.”

-- Aimee Green

agreen@oregonian.com

o_aimee

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