- December 15, 2025
About a year after the crash that fatally killed Flagler teens Lane Burnsed and Meredith Smith, a lawsuit involving their parents has reached a settlement.
Kathleen Smith, mother of Meredith Smith, filed a lawsuit in April against Lane Burnsed’s father and a Sunoco station in Bunnell that the teens visited before the crash that killed them.
Smith alleged that James Burnsed was responsible for his son’s negligence while driving his father’s vehicle. She filed charges against him for wrongful death.
In addition, Smith accused the Sunoco station of selling her daughter alcohol when she and Burnsed stopped there on July 26, 2012. Later that night, the two teens got into a three-car wreck that killed them both.
Lane Burnsed was 18 years old. Meredith Smith was 17.
Kathleen Smith sued the Sunoco station for negligence, saying the sale of alcohol prevented her daughter from making an “informed decision” before getting into a truck driven by Burnsed, who was under the influence of marijuana, Smith said.
A toxicology test returned negative results for drugs and alcohol in Burnsed’s system, said Kim Montes, a spokesperson for the Florida Highway Patrol.
The parties involved in the lawsuit reached a settlement last week, said Craig Cameron, the attorney representing James Burnsed. The same was confirmed by staff in the offices of Allan Ziffra, who represented Kathleen Smith.
However, the terms of that settlement are not yet publically available.
The teens were traveling southbound on Interstate 95 in Daytona Beach just before 11 p.m. on July 26, 2012. A few cars ahead of them, a car driven by Louis Nicholas Prinzo, of Ormond Beach, pulled to the shoulder of the road for “an unknown reason,” according to a crash report.
Suddenly, Prinzo pulled back onto the road, in front of a car driven by Doron Nirel Lyn, causing the crash. Burnsed, who was driving behind Lyn, struck Lyn’s car. Lyn was ejected and later transported to the Halifax Health Medical Center.
Burnsed’s vehicle then struck a guardrail in the median. Smith was pronounced dead on the scene. Burnsed died at the hospital shortly after the accident.
Charges are pending against Prinzo, who tested positive for drugs, Montes said in May. So far, no charges have been filed.
