'IT'S WRONG TO BURY YOUR OWN CHILD'
THE grieving parents of Star Trek actor Anton Yelchin have launched a lawsuit against the makers of the Jeep which crushed him to death.
Former Soviet figure skaters Victor and Irina Yelchin filed the wrongful death and product liability case against Fiat Chrysler in Los Angeles Superior Court.
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Award winning actor Anton was killed in June when his parked Jeep rolled backwards down his driveway at this L.A home, pinning him against a brick pillar.
The lawsuit claims that the gear selector in the 27-year-old’s vehicle was defective, poorly designed and manufactured.
The case reads: “Anton Yelchin was crushed and lingered alive for some time, trapped and suffocating until his death.”
It also alleges that the SUV did not maintain or engage its “park” gear which led to the actor being killed.
It is not known how much money the actor’s family are seeking in damages.
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Anton’s parents, who were celebrated figure skating champions in Saint Petersburg before moving to the US with the actor in 1989, spoke at a news conference about the Fiat Chrysler suit.
Distraught dad Victor said he wanted to prevent a similar tragedy happening to another family.
He said: "Despite our unbelievable grief, we decided to come here to prevent other family for the same tragedy.
"Anton was our only son. He was a remarkable human being, very modest, very simple, very honest, generous, loving.
"It is wrong, it is against nature when the parents bury its own child. "That's why we hope that this lawsuit will make a family never go through the same hell we're going through right now."
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Mother Irina, who was visibly distressed through out the press conference, added that the response to her son’s tragic death has been overwhelming.
She said: "Every morning we're getting text messages or emails from his friends all around the world saying how much… losing this beautiful human being, and the world is really missing him and it's not right that he is not here."
The model of SUV which accidentally killed the actor has been largely recalled – 1.1 million vehicles in total – because the gear sticks reportedly confused drivers.
The gear sticks allegedly resulted in the powerful cars rolling back unexpectedly resulting in dozens of injuries before Yelchin’s passing.
Yelchin is best known for playing USS Enterprise navigator Pavel Chekov in the rebooted Star Trek franchise.
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Star Trek Beyond, the third film in the series which features the actor, is currently in theatres and has grossed $166 million worldwide.
The Terminator Salvation actor’s estate was valued at nearly £1.05 million and is now being handled by his parents.
Russian-born Yelchin, an only child who moved to the US when he was six-months-old, has four film projects which have yet to hit screens.
Yelchin left behind several unreleased projects, including the Netflix animated series Trollhunters and four films.
Fiat Chrysler offered its sympathies to the family in a statement before the lawsuit was filed and said it could not comment on the case.
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