Trial between NCTD, family of 19-year-old Poway resident killed by train in Del Mar to begin Aug. 19

A jury trial over the death of a 19-year-old Poway resident who was killed by a train in Del Mar will begin on Aug. 19 in Superior Court.

(File photo)

The trial is scheduled to last 10 days, Superior Court Judge Cynthia A. Freeland said during a pretrial conference on July 29.

The family of the victim, Javad Hedayatzadeh, filed the lawsuit in 2017 alleging negligence against North County Transit District, which owns the right of way just north of 13th Street in Del Mar where the accident took place. The city of Del Mar was also a defendant, but has since been dropped from the case.

Hedayatzadeh and two friends were trespassing in September 2016 when they were walking near the rail. They had driven to Del Mar and parked at the end of 13th Street. According to court documents, the three of them walked down to the train tracks and headed north, then smoked cannabis on the west side of the tracks. Hedayatzadeh told his friends that he wanted to take a selfie as a freight train passed by from the south. He was struck by the train and killed.

A guardrail at the site of the accident prevents automobiles from accessing the right of way owned by NCTD, but pedestrians are able to walk around it.