$1.25M settlement reached in downstate campground deaths

The family of two children killed when a tree fell on their tent has settled its lawsuit against the owners of an Illinois campground for $1.25 million.

Attorneys for the Sherman, Ill., family announced the deal in the 2008 deaths of 9-year-old Savannah and 4-year-old Dustin Stuebs.

The children were asleep with their family during a campout in the western Illinois community of Colona when a thunderstorm rolled in.

The lawsuit filed in St. Louis County contends the campground didn’t alert campers, evacuate the grounds or remove the tree the family says was rotting and unstable well before the storm.

The campground argued the storm was an unforeseen “act of God.”

An attorney for the St. Louis-based company that owns the campground hasn’t returned a message seeking comment Friday.