A federal judge at the Eastern District of Louisiana has ruled that a woman’s estate, not her husband who’s accused of killing her, is owed the nearly $200,000 in her death benefits.
New York Life Insurance Co. first sued over a benefit payment potentially for Richard Starks, Jr., who was convicted of killing his wife, Caretta Starks.
Richard Starks had been listed as the only beneficiary for Caretta when she died from a gunshot wound. New York Life questioned who should receive the benefits and Caretta’s estate, that includes Ashton Davis and Te’a Starks, wanted a declaration that Richard was not entitled to those benefits.
He was later convicted of second-degree murder in Caretta’s death. That ruling came down in the 40th Judicial District Court, Parish of St. John the Baptist, State of Louisiana. He was sentenced to life in prison on Oct. 14, 2019.
Under Louisiana law, a person listed as a beneficiary is not owed the benefits if there’s a final judgment holding that person liable for the death of the insured, or if a court has ruled that the beneficiary had some sort of connection to the murder of the insured.
His conviction is considered a final judgment, and while he appealed the ruling, U.S. District Judge Lance M. Africk has ruled that he’s still not entitled to the benefits.
“Stark’s second degree murder conviction of the insured is a final judgment holding him criminally responsible for her death and, consequently, he is disqualified from receiving any portion of the policy’s death benefits,” wrote Judge Africk. “Stark’s pending appeal of his conviction and sentence has no bearing on whether he is eligible to receive benefits…”
Since the deceased didn’t name a secondary beneficiary, Judge Africk determined that the $197,762.29 will go to the estate as he dismissed the case as moot.