OnStar failed to share data that may have helped save Nichols woman killed in 2021, lawsuit says

NICHOLS, S.C. (WBTW) — The estate of an 80-year-old Nichols woman who was kidnapped and killed in 2021 filed a lawsuit against OnStar for allegedly not providing location data during her kidnapping.

The family said Mary Ann Elvington would still be alive if OnStar provided the location data when requested, according to the lawsuit, which was filed March 1.

OnStar placed a three-way call to Elvington’s vehicle on March 28, 2021, to attempt to locate her, according to the lawsuit. Elvington was forced into her vehicle by Dominique Brand, who forced her to drive him from her home in Horry County to Waccamaw, North Carolina, and then back to South Carolina.

Brand is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

Elvington confirmed to OnStar that she was in the car but said she didn’t know where she was or her destination, according to the lawsuit.

Her son testified in the trial about a recording of a call he made to OnStar — the General Motors onboard feature that located his mother’s car and patched him through to talk to his mother.

“I’m not far away,” Mary Ann Elvington is heard saying. “I don’t know where I am. I think North Carolina. I think I just crossed the South Carolina state line.”

Elvington didn’t respond when OnStar asked if she could pull over to call law enforcement, and OnStar hung up the call and “discontinued aid,” according to the lawsuit.

Her son requested OnStar provide the location data to law enforcement, which the company refused, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit claims that OnStar monitored the movements of the vehicle when Brand got into the driver’s seat and made a U-turn, but didn’t share that information with her son or law enforcement.

Despite her son “repeatedly” contacting OnStar to report that Elvington was in danger, the company refused to provide the location information, according to the lawsuit. The company allegedly even refused to provide the information to the Nichols police chief.

OnStar’s conduct created “an increased harm to [Elvington]” and the company had a duty to provide emergency assistance by “making reasonable efforts to contact law enforcement and other appropriate authorities, when alerted to danger or emergency and/or after undertaking to assist [Elvington].”

Elvington’s estate is suing both OnStar and Brand for wrongful death. The estate is seeking an unspecified amount of damages.

Brand was convicted in September of kidnapping and killing Elvington. His sentencing is on hold indefinitely until the U.S. Supreme Court issues a ruling in Lora v. United States.

General Motors, OnStar’s parent company, told News13 it doesn’t comment on legal matters.