Fallen bball star's family files $200M lawsuit

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. (WTNH) -- The family of a fallen Connecticut 'hoop star' wants more than $200 million in a wrongful death lawsuit.

Chauncey Hardy made his way from the basketball courts of Middletown to a professional league in Romania, but his dreams ended there last year when the former Sacred Heart University star was killed in a bar fight.

Tuesday will mark the one-year-anniversary of Chauncey's death. Monday his family, and their attorneys, announced they've filed a $215 million lawsuit against several parties. They tell News 8, for them, it's all about seeking justice and making sure no other basketball players abroad lose their lives this way.

"He was like my Michael Jordan. I looked up to him," said Onnalise Hardy, Chauncey's 19-year-old sister. "I never really got the chance to tell him that I looked up to him so much, he was one of the greatest big brothers I could ever ask for."

She never got a chance to tell her brother Chauncey that he was her inspiration, but she and the rest of his family are making sure he didn't die in vain.

23-year-old Chauncey was killed in a bar fight in Romania on October 9, 2011, after he had been out celebrating a win with his teammates.

"He started Oct. 9 in a very upbeat fashion. He had become that day elected captain of the team, he on that day scored 22 points, " said Rick Altschuler, Hardy family attorney.

Out to seek justice, his family is suing several parties, including Chauncey's coach in Romania, claiming each party contributed to Chauncey's death in some way. The attorney claims the basketball recruiter and coach failed to make the family aware of the racial tensions in the area in advance of him signing his contract and that when Chauncey got to Romania, they claim the coach and the Romanian Basketball Federation failed to protect him.

"We have a lot of evidence of anti-African American sentiment in Romania that was part in parcel what happened in this case," said Altschuler.

He also claims the doctors and hospital made mistakes that caused him to die. The family says its decision to file suit is not about money, but about protecting future basketball players drafted by international teams.

"We just want justice, not only for Chauncey, but also for any athlete that wanted to go play overseas that there's some type of protection for them," said Olamae Hardy, Chauncey's mom.

Hardy's assailant, a Romanian resident, was sentenced to five years behind bars on a charge of public outrage.

The case will eventually be heard in a federal court in Bridgeport, but the family's attorney says because it's an international case it could take years to get heard in a U.S. court. However, the family says its in it for the long-haul.