RELATED VIDEO: Judge’s son killed in Houston County farming accident (2023)

DOTHAN, Ala (WDHN) -- A Houston County judge is claiming "defectively designed" farm equipment caused his son's death on the family farm.

Judge Benjamin Lewis filed the lawsuit on Friday.

According to the complaint, Judge Lewis's son, Weston Lewis, was crushed to death when a hay baler's rear gate malfunctioned while clearing debris from the machine and closed.

Weston was killed in June 2023 on his family's dairy farm in Houston County along Highway 53.

The suit says McHale Engineering and Atlantic & Southern Equipment manufactured the baler. These companies were named as the defendants in the lawsuit.

Judge Lewis claims the baler was "defectively designed" and did not include proper warnings of the dangers o

See Full Page