Parents of 10-year-old killed in Lakewood joyride sue minor driver, others
The parents of a 10-year-old boy killed in a car wreck last year in Lakewood are suing the 14-year-old driver and others.
The boy who was behind the wheel pleaded guilty earlier this year to vehicular homicide, among other charges. The News Tribune does not generally name minors prosecuted as juveniles.
Dylan Wilson died in the Nov. 9 wreck, and a 14-year-old and 11-year-old passenger were hurt.
On Tuesday, Wilson’s parents, Richard and Michelle Wilson, filed a wrongful death lawsuit concerning the wreck.
Police said the crash happened after the boys went home after school, took the keys to the car of the 11-year-old’s mother and went for a ride.
After stopping for gas, police said, the boys drove on, but the driver sideswiped another car and sped away before the vehicle hit a pole and spun into a tree.
The car’s owner, Tara Meta Schultz, later told police she didn’t give the boys permission to take it.
However, the Wilsons’ suit alleges Schultz had let the 14-year-old driver and her son take the car and get gas before.
According to the suit, Schultz at one point posted on her Facebook page that her 11-year-old son’s driving made her sick.
“It was known in the neighborhood that she would let not only her son, but other young men, drive her car,” said attorney Terry E. Lumsden, who represents the Wilsons.
Court records do not list an attorney for Schultz.
In addition to the driver and Schultz, the suit is against those who gave gas to the minors, and other drivers who chased the vehicle after it reportedly hit their cars.
Lumsden said it’s not yet clear how many drivers that was, or how fast they were going as they followed the minors, but said they might have been negligent.
“It’s been a horrible, horrible story all around,” he said. “We hope to get the true story out eventually.”
Alexis Krell: 253-597-8268, @amkrell
This story was originally published March 17, 2016 at 2:50 PM with the headline "Parents of 10-year-old killed in Lakewood joyride sue minor driver, others."