The wife of a golfer who was killed by a falling tree at Mill Creek South Golf Course in May of 2023 has filed a civil lawsuit against Mill Creek MetroParks earlier this week.

According to the complaint, Katie Costantini and her brother-in-law Jordan Hardwick filed the lawsuit against the park, park Director Aaron Young, and other park employees.

The complaint alleges the park was negligent in the wrongful death suit that led to her husband's death and serious injury to Hardwick.

During a golf outing on May 27 at the golf course owned by the park district, 35-year-old Brian Costantini of Boardman was killed when an 80-foot-tall tree fell on a golf cart at the Mill Creek South Golf Course, killing the driver. Also in the golf cart was Hardwick.

It took several hours for first responders to remove the tree that had Constantini pinned under the tree. 

At the time of the incident, the park district released the following statement, "We do not have any reason to believe that this was anything other than a terrible, tragic accident. Our deepest condolences go out to the family. Throughout the MetroParks, trees that appear dead and pose a risk to park visitors are removed. However, in this case, the tree was alive when it fell.”

The lawsuit alleges that a large tree had not been "a large tree which had not been properly removed or maintained, in general and following storms in the area, fell upon their golf cart which was positioned on the golf course..."

The lawsuit also claims "other trees in and around the subject tree had fallen and/or were shown to be in danger of falling prior to the tree in question falling."

The lawsuit states the plaintiffs are seeking damages for negligence, wrongful death and emotional distress.

No court dates are set in the case yet.