The Associated Press

CANTON, Ohio - An estranged couple are locked in a legal and DNA fight over a $2.2 million settlement in their daughter's death at the hands of a drunken driver.

Jasmine Backie was one of three people killed three years ago when a pickup truck driven by a drunken driver sped through a red light and smashed their car.

Sharon Hall had her daughter's body exhumed so a DNA test could be done on the remains while she and her estranged husband battled over an insurance settlement.

Robert M. Hall and his attorneys say he's being unfairly cut out of the settlement. They plan to challenge DNA tests that indicate he's not Jasmine's biological father.

The two are due in Stark County Probate Court on Monday, when Sharon Hall's attorney will ask Judge Robert Horowitz to award the money to her as sole beneficiary of Jasmine's estate.

Robert Cash, 21, had been out of prison about four months when he went bar-hopping on the night of March 25, 2000. Driving someone else's pickup, he killed 19-year-old Backie, her 18-year-old cousin Teri M. Backie, and Jamie Marapao, 17, a friend.

The amount of alcohol in the blood of Cash, who survived, was less than the legal limit for adults but more than the maximum for those younger than 21. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to three counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, drunken driving and driving with a suspended license.

Robert Hall thought all along that Jasmine was his child, said his attorney, Michael Goins.

"She told him he was the biological father and acted like it for 21 years. Then when money becomes involved, she ... changes her mind," Goins said.

Sharon Hall said Robert Hall would "effectively disappear for weeks or months at a time."

She said she signed his name on papers out of habit and didn't understand the legal ramifications of describing him as Jasmine's father, as she did in a court deposition.

No father is listed on the birth certificate.

Court arbitrators, while deferring to probate court, specifically excluded Robert Hall from receiving any settlement they awarded.

To resolve the paternity issue, Sharon Hall's attorneys requested that Jasmine's remains be tested to show Robert was not the biological father.