Stewart moves wrongful death lawsuit to federal court

The wrongful death lawsuit filed against Tony Stewart by the parents of Kevin Ward Jr. was assigned to U.S. District Judge David Hurd on Monday after the Sprint Cup driver asked Friday for the case to be adjudicated in federal court rather than New York state court.

There was no immediate response from Ward's legal team on whether it will challenge the federal court's jurisdiction and request to have it moved back into state court. The Ward family seeks unspecified damages related to their son's suffering, death and their own loss of economic support and services from their son. Stewart is scheduled to file his response to the lawsuit by Friday and an initial scheduling conference is set for Oct. 8. espn..com